


Free Ride

by faxmachine



Category: One Piece
Genre: Fluff and Humor, Fluff and Smut, Freeform, Lemon, M/M, Romance, Slow Burn, Smut, Will add as relevant, unedited
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-27
Updated: 2019-10-10
Packaged: 2020-09-27 22:55:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 26,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20415658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/faxmachine/pseuds/faxmachine
Summary: With both Luffy and Law wandering aimlessly it takes a bet over future predictions to bring the two together after years of being apart over an incident that destroyed their relationship. Even with Luffy's memory of Law long forgotten, it shouldn't have been surprising the man still wanted to go on an adventure with, effectively, a perfect stranger.





	1. This is How You Live Your Life?

**Author's Note:**

> Will edit as future chapters are posted.

Luffy felt fortunate there were still parts of the world he could fish without being too bothered by city ordinances or national laws. All that stuff made his head spin. Why did everyone have to make catching a fish so hard. He wasn’t asking for much, just enough to eat.

He thought it was stupid folks seemed to care far more about when he was fishing for himself than when he was fishing with his crew. They had all decided to take a break though. Most of his crew mates had important things to do this year and Luffy was happy to wait for them. He felt as if he was living the dream, truly free to explore the world with no one holding him back and he wasn’t about to mess that up by being impatient.

While his crew got their lives in order, Luffy decided to travel the world by land. He left their fishing boat with his friend and crewmate Frankie, who had wanted to improve upon it, which Luffy was happy to oblige, before heading out into the relative unknown. Rarely was anyone ever worried about him doing things like this, after all it tended to be how they met him in the first place. 

He racked his brain trying to think of anyone who would have been worried about him doing this. It felt like there was someone, but he couldn’t really pick out who. They must not have been that important, but the question lingered.

Today had been a wild day. An old man had paid him for a significant amount of fish luffy had caught. Ordinarily Luffy wouldn’t be caught dead sharing meat, especially not when he was so hungry all the time, but this man looked like he needed something to eat. Luffy couldn’t figure out why the man looked so hungry when he had money in the first place. It didn’t really make much sense to him, but he wasn’t going to complain after being paid for it.

The police didn’t seem to have the same idea as Luffy as when he came up to a street vendor to buy food they seemed to be absolutely convinced he stole the money, or something about his bucket of fish he had left over? Luffy wasn’t really listening to them as he darted off, so as not to be caught. It wouldn’t be fun going to prison in a foreign country he wasn’t even technically supposed to be in.

Why should he care though? Why should borders matter to him? Especially when they aren’t even protected enough to keep him out. It wasn’t like he was going to do anything wrong, he just wanted to explore and eat the fish. He sighed, rubbing his face in frustration, as it started to rain. “I guess I could go to a restaurant, or something.” He mumbled to himself, given no one was around, and the rain drowned out any other sound.

It was lonely not being around his crew. He was used to constant sound. Snoring, waves, laughter, it was hard being apart. They had done this sort of thing before, the last time it was for two years, fortunately this time it would only be for a year.  
He took in a determined breath, and exhaled through his nose. This would be good for him, he needed to learn how to be more dependent again. Robin had told him to work on his feelings, but he wasn’t really sure how he was supposed to do that.

His stomach groaned in competition with his thoughts. “Quiet you.” He said hitting his own stomach. He finally noticed his clothes were so wet that walking around in them could count as swimming. The people at the bar probably wouldn’t like him bringing his own personal pool, but he didn’t have much of a choice. He opened the door, feeling a gush of hot dry air come at him. His eyes lit up at the fireplace in the back of the bar, and the source of his newfound joy. He was definitely going to get a spot by that fireplace.

He motioned towards the fireplace at the lady in front of the bar table or whatever those things were called. Luffy wasn’t really one to go to bars, but it was late at night already and nowhere else was open. He sat down at a booth next to the fireplace and let out a relieved sigh.

____

Law had spent the past two days driving aimlessly. His uncle was out of jail again and it was as if he had never even gone. Everything in his uncle’s life was back together, his factories never left his name. Nothing changed. Nothing ever changed. 

Law wanted to believe he’d make a difference in the world–a difference that would be enough to atone for all of his uncle’s actions. The more he did, the more people he saved, the closer he felt it brought him to receiving some form of absolution. Idolization couldn’t begin to describe his initial feelings for his uncle Doflamingo Donquixote. Law had wanted to be the man Doflamingo always was–he was personally groomed by Doflamingo to take over the company. Law could have had it all.

He wouldn’t let a man so actively malicious consider Law close enough to merit nepotism. It was impossible. The very thought of getting help from someone like that, after all of this, made him want to rip his own skin off piece by piece. He thought he had let everything go after Doflamingo was in prison for a few years. Dropping the surrounding emotional baggage was out of the question now that the bastard was out. 

None of this would be over until he crushed his uncle’s skull with his own hands. He enjoyed a visualization of his uncle’s grin disappearing under the repeated word death which painted his fingers. They should have killed him when they had the chance, he thought with a sigh.

Law would never be satisfied with his uncle’s actions, he slowly shut his eyes, in discomfort as he remembered Doflamingo shooting Corazon. Law was in his 30s and childhood memories were still haunting him. The human brain was honestly bullshit.

If only driving to this dilapidated village and drinking until he couldn’t see would be enough to distract from his thoughts. Shot after shot and he was still incapable of drinking enough to calm his mind. He could feel the alcohol hitting him, the details of the bar were no longer vivid, everything was a blur, he could barely distinguish between other people’s faces. Doflamingo’s visage lingered internally. That face was forever branded into his mind; similar to the marks he left on the other people he decided he owned.

Cold air blew towards him, it felt soothing against the heat of the nearby fire, enough for him to lean into it. Glancing towards the only logical source of the small comfort he was pleasantly surprised to see Luffy. Shock lost to his inebriation allowing him a level head. No one had seen or heard from the guy in years. Knowing Luffy that was how he would have liked it, so Law never tried too hard to figure out where he ran off to. Not that Luffy would remember him much, Law thought bitterly.

Luffy was the reason his uncle had been put in jail in the first place; the source of relative solace Law had felt the past 7 years. He was an idiot, reckless, absolutely stupid. Jumped in without a plan, with no regard for his life aggressively encouraging Law to join him. To make Doflamingo pay with their own hands. It wasn’t something to be dreamt, let alone acted out. 

Plans to destroy his uncle from the inside had been in the works for 3 years devised by himself. It was a slow game he had been playing as he planned to have others get their hands dirty. Doflamingo was the sort of man who sought revenge. Law knew if he failed at any point his uncle would kill him.

Discretion wasn’t something Luffy understood; the word was something Law doubted even existed as part of the shaggy haired man’s vernacular. Teaching someone a lesson was something Luffy did without worry for consequence. Once Luffy decided he would do something a chance wouldn’t be given to another with the same goal. 

Law had attempted to stop Luffy from fucking with his plans, but in the end Luffy got through on brute force. Despite Luffy’s impatient actions the successful criminalization of Doflamingo had changed Law’s perspective while bringing Luffy and Law closer than either previously thought possible.

Law heard Luffy hadn’t changed much since the incident. Sometimes Robin would call and update Law on their current lives, reminding Law of what he left. It wasn’t as if he didn’t feel bad for leaving Luffy. He didn’t know what he was supposed to do when his boyfriend of several years forgot the aforementioned several years. Performing his life-saving surgery was the last thing Luffy remembered of Law. Nearly a decade was gone now–counting what could have been on top of what was lost. A rough blow.

Law wasn’t going to lie, he was scared to try and rebuild something. It wasn’t like Luffy lost anything, not when he couldn’t remember what he had. Selfishly, Law felt as if he was the only one who got hurt. Luffy just kept his other friends and went on to the next adventure. 

He lifted his hand up for the waitress to notice him and quickly told her to give Luffy a milkshake while also putting his expenses on Law’s bill. She shrugged walking away. He decided Luffy might feel weird if someone he only knew as his doctor just came up and sat with him. The guy had always been motivated by food, ordering him something was sure to grab his attention; countries had been brought down by Luffy for less food than Law was offering him.

___

The fisherman’s skin was unusually pale and clammy, given his typical dark tan gifted to him by the years he’d spent on the sea. The hair on his body stuck up as if it were reacting to a switch flipped by the current temperature change. He hugged himself, rubbing his wet arms until a faint warmth spread across them. Every article of clothing he sported was drenched. shorts, flip flops, and a mostly buttoned up yellow vest–something about the color yellow was comforting to him. His hat had somewhat protected his hair and face from getting too wet, but it was still dripping as he let it hang from his neck. He was sitting in his own puddle.

He stared longingly at the plate that had been brought to him. Now, Luffy knew the best cook in the world, and it definitely wasn’t himself. He had been making his own food on the road for weeks now, all unseasoned mostly cooked meat. He wasn’t going to complain, he loved meat in any form, it didn’t matter, but good food still made him feel at home. No one could ever match Sanji’s cooking, but they could give Luffy fond memories.

He smiled to himself thinking of his friends while grabbing for the burger he had ordered. People seemed to talk a whole lot about burgers these days and just like songs could get stuck in his head, so too could food. He had burgers on the brain for at least 6 days, but was nowhere near a city to get one until today. He knew he was supposed to let the burger sit, so it wouldn’t get its juice everywhere, but Luffy didn’t care, he would deal with the mess afterwards. It was raining wasn’t it? Good enough.

As his middle finger grazed the toasted bun of the burger the waitress set down a glass of some kind of milkshake? Luffy didn’t feel like drinking alcohol right now and upon looking up to ask the waitress if it was non-alcoholic he stared blankly into the eyes of a man in another booth who then waved at him, with a quick smile. It was sight, easy to miss, but enough to catch Luffy’s eye. 

Luffy tended not to think of people in a particularly romantic way, it wasn’t really anything he concerned himself with. He didn’t need romance and he never really found anyone he’d want to do anything more with. This man though, he was attractive. It was as if someone decided to put every feature Luffy had lingering thoughts of together on one man. He drew his eyebrows together in attempts to figure out why this man felt so familiar. He decided to wave the guy over. He was smiling, though he would rather be eating. When did he decide to be polite?

“I remember you, but I have no idea how I know you or who you are.” Luffy said scratching the back of his head looking apologetically back at the man who had just sat down. He seemed drunk enough to be fun yet sober enough to stay fun. Drunk people could be a good time. Nami was a riot whenever she actually managed to get her hands on enough alcohol to get her drunk, Luffy had only seen it twice in the time he had known her despite having lived together for years.

“Ah?” The man seemed to ask with a voice pitching up, it seemed rehearsed to Luffy. As if he had anticipated this answer. He watched as the man nodded, “Well, maybe it’ll come back to you.” If Luffy thought too much about it that last sentence was almost depressing.

He wasn’t going to think too much about it though. There was nothing to think about. “Yeah, when you tell me right now!” Luffy said, he was excited at the potential to regain memories he didn’t know he’d lost. He couldn’t contain himself and decided to nervously eat his burger in order to stop himself from letting the man speak. He wanted to hear what the man had to say! It was odd, he couldn’t shake the feeling, he generally didn’t get nervous.

“I was your heart surgeon.” The man said pretending to notice something off in the distance as he scratched the hair on his chin. 

Luffy had to hold back a smile at how embarrassed the guy seemed. He tried to appear calm and collected but couldn’t even look Luffy in the face when talking. It was pretty cute. “Well thanks for saving my life!” He said as he radiated happiness. He could feel that this absolutely was the man who saved his life. He wanted to get up and throw his arms around him, but decided he shouldn’t do that to a guy that barely knows him. Food, distract yourself with food, he thought. “So this doesn’t have alcohol in it then, right?” He eyed the drink that was starting to melt on the table next to him. 

“It’s non-alcoholic. I recognized you and wanted to see how you were doing. I’m Law, if you can remember. Trafalgar Law.” He said with an extremely even voice. It was difficult to read him, Luffy had liked when he smiled, though. Maybe he’d do more of that as they talked?

“Thank you so much!” He said eagerly moving his head towards the straw. He really should order milkshakes more often, this was a fantastic treat. Sure he loves meat but sometimes things like this were nice. He shivered and felt the cold on his body again; it seemed to have melted away when Law sat down.

His shiver clearly didn’t go unnoticed by Law as he held his hand over his eyes, as if to cover his face in embarrassment. “I’m sorry, you must be freezing I should have ordered you something warmer.” 

Luffy held up his hands, “No, no, no, no! This is great. Thank you! Honestly, it’s very good. I would never turn down free food, especially not food as good as this.” He ducked down to finish off the drink as if Law was going to take it away, he softly squinted his eyes in mock distrust as the last of said drink left the cup. Immediately he had a brain freeze. While closing his eyes, he held his hands up to his head. 

Law chuckled, “Hold your tongue up to the roof of your mouth.” He said. 

Luffy did as was suggested–the relief was sweet. He relaxed his muscles and slouched down in the booth, scooting closer to Law as he slipped his flip flops onto the floor, to pull his arms around his legs. He hoped his proximity to Law would provide some warmth, if only marginal. He knew he would have to go back outside and sleep in the cold, it wouldn’t be fun. He physically shook his head to snap himself from his thoughts.

That didn’t matter! He was getting to talk to the person who gave him a second chance at life! Not remembering his surgeons face made him feel like an idiot, granted he was basically dead the entire time. He looked up at the wall right eye squinting above a rising corner of his mouth. He debated with himself over whether he deserved to be berated as he'd forgotten or if his condition absolved him of losing such an important memory. 

“Better?” Law asked humorously as he took a sip of some dark liquor on ice–did he even have that when he first sat down?

“Yeah thanks a million. Saving my life over and over again.” He joked showing his teeth as he smiled. He wasn’t sure if he imagined it but he thought he could see a slight frown accompanied by a blush appear as fast as they disappeared on Law’s face. “So what brings you here? I had heart surgery on a completely different island.” He asked, now wishing he had more food. His stomach groaned in agreement. 

___

“Do you want more food?” Law asked casually, acknowledging Luffy’s stomach. Before Law could even get an answer out to Luffy’s vocal question his eyes glowed through his drying bangs, looking up at Law with an anticipatory tight-lipped grin. Everything about his body language said yes. 

“Well I would never turn down free food!” Luffy said holding onto the padding of the booth, as if trying to restrain himself from bouncing. “So-So-So wait, why are you here of all places.” He asked remembering this had been his previous mission. 

Law flagged down a waitress, looking away as he spoke, “I am a traveling doctor. I do charity work for an organization called Heart Zone. Just so happens I’m going to be driving out to another city tomorrow.” He said.

“Wow! That’s amazing! You’re really cool, you know that? You save my life and you even buy me food? I don’t think I could ever thank you enough! You should let me come with you and I’ll figure out a way to repay you.” Luffy said innocently. As there were no intentions behind his words other than what was said. He loved traveling the world–helping people out. It was what he did. He may not have his crew with him, but it didn’t mean he couldn’t make new friends.

Law practically spat out the alcohol in his mouth, clearly a bad time to take a drink. He composed himself, forcing down a cough. “There’s no ...” Had Luffy just said what he thought he said. Was this an offer for sexual favors. Had Luffy become sexually promiscuous while Law had been out of his life? Was this what Luffy had been doing the entire time? 

To fuck the only person he ever loved again was pretty tempting, but he was a doctor first. This went against his code of ethics. Luffy didn’t know him anymore and this would be taking advantage of him–something Law just wouldn’t do. He wanted Luffy safe, happy, healthy. None of this would provide those things for the soaked thing with his stupidly large eyes, pulling Law in, as if the were some type of dense that gave them their own pull–not gravitational, but still something that could be observed … something that wanted him to say yes.

A waitress set down a plate, which Luffy grabbed before it hit the table. “I’ll make a bet with you!” Luffy said, eyes determined, “If I can predict the future you have to take me with you! At least just to the next city! I can leave after I find something I can repay you with. I don't know what that is yet, but I’ll try really hard!” He finished talking with a full mouth.

Law made a low amused sound in the back of his throat, “Sure, if you can predict the future I’ll take you with me. You have to predict it on my terms though.” Law said. Predicting the future was impossible, had Luffy gone crazy? He had gone through a lot, definitely enough to drive anyone insane. Law needed to cut Luffy some slack. 

He promised himself he wouldn’t make Luffy feel bad, but when he inevitably broke that promise in the past it was devastating to observe. Sadness was foreign and uninvited when it came to Luffy, he couldn’t express it naturally. The smaller man’s demeanor had always been directly opposite of Law’s own perpetual scowl. 

“Yes!” Luffy said, probably a little too loud, causing several people in the bar to glance over. “Ok! Tell me tell me tell me. How do you want this to go? What should I predict!” He asked a little too fast. If Law hadn’t been used to Luffy’s preferred method of communication he wouldn’t have caught a word of what was said.

Law looked up at the tv, to see the news was live and smirked. “Tell me what the news says, after this commercial, verbatim.” He said ordering another drink. For a doctor he sure set a bad example. 

“Ver..what?” Luffy asked tilting his head, looking frustrated at Law.

“Word for word.” Law quickly corrected, forgetting Luffy’s vocabulary was … dialect specific to say the least.

Without wasting time, Luffy began to recite the future. “Doflamingo brings S.M.I.L.E. global, after the wide success of his 32nd factory in Medan, Indonesia. The very factory that brought the city its currently enjoyed worldwide acclaim. He will unveil a new factory in Delfim Moreira, Brazil. Protests have broken out in fear for the nearby environment. In an act of defiance against The World Government, The Revolutionary Army,” Luffy’s eyes lit up as he spoke this part “said to included Sabo, have pledged to kill anyone who enters the area without local permission.” Luffy stopped himself from talking and pointed at the T.V. as it began to repeat everything he’d just said–giddy that his brother was talked about.

He watched Laws jaw slowly drop as a toothpick previously contained between his lips fell slack. He started to mouth words, but Luffy couldn’t quite tell what they were. “Word for word.” He sputtered, finally. Staring at Luffy in wide-eyed disbelief. “You’re fucking with me. You saw this already?” Law looked almost angry, as if Luffy had done something wrong.

Luffy drew his eyebrows together and pouted, Law found himself thinking the guy was too old to look this cute. “That’s not fair I did what you said. A bet is a bet!” 

“Do it again, you must have planned this one...” Law trailed off, finding his own words unbelievable. 

“How could I? This is live news and you picked the task! You’re being a sore loser!” The smaller man was pressing his arms into the table upset that anyone would accuse him of lying. As if it were easier to believe he was psychic over him lying. 

“Tell me what...” Law looked around the bar, “The next person who walks in looks like.” Law demanded unfazed by Luffy’s outburst. 

Luffy glared at Law pressing his lips together scrunching his nose. They both turned to look at the entrance “Green hair, really wild reminds me of a rooster, long coat. Kind of punk looking? Sharp teeth. They poke out. I’ve seen him before. I can’t remember his name though. He’s going to look in our direction as soon as he walks in. And then quickly look away, he’ll sit at that,” Luffy pointed to a booth across the room from theirs, “booth, directly across the side you’re sitting on.”

Just as Luffy finished the events happened exactly as he described. The little brat was looking at him with the smuggest face. He felt a tinge of admiration for Luffy. He’s still free enough to drop everything, he found himself repeating over and over again in his head. “Okay you can come with me, but you haven’t fully convinced me of your future sight.” He said skeptically. 

“I knew you’d take me.” Luffy said not bothering to hide his happiness at Law’s lost bet. “Where are you staying the night? I can sleep on the floor?” Luffy was vibrating in his seat obviously wanting to get up and have proof he was going on some sort of adventure with Law. 

Law wanted to turn away. It was almost blinding how happy Luffy was. He sighed softly, before setting down $400 dollars and gesturing for Luffy to follow. Luffy sure could eat, when did the guy even order all that food? 

Anxiety gripped his heart, and he felt the need to reassure himself of his intentions. He wasn’t being a predator. He wasn’t going to do anything to Luffy. That would be fucked up. He would be nothing but professional with Luffy. He had lost a bet and he was going to hold true to his word. No one was going to tell him he didn’t.

He loved Luffy. If this was the lifestyle Luffy was living, it was probably for the best that he went home with Law. Law wasn’t doing anything inappropriate. He held back thoughts of their past sexual highlights. He needed to pretend he barely knew his boyfriend, anything short of this would be predatory? I should come clean, the thought sunk into his stomach.

Luffy hopped out of the booth, following Law trying to stop himself from smiling wider than he already was. This was going to be his most exciting trip yet. Life was so exhilarating, he was so glad this man made all these feelings and sensations possible by saving his life. He released a breath that was absentmindedly held. He couldn’t hide it, he’d go to the end of the world for this man. 

_____

Law let Luffy into a small hotel room. “It has a couch!” He yelled running to flop on the couch as soon as he was able to. He let out a satisfied sound as he situated himself.

“Yes, it has a couch.” Law said through a yawn barely making it onto the bed as he looked over to see the other had already passed out. Luffy was lying on his stomach, one leg entirely off of the couch, both hands under his face as he snored quietly. “How are you already asleep?” He muttered, worried about his ex? He questioned the word’s usage. They had never officially broken up, he could hardly consider Luffy an ex. The poor guy didn’t even remember they had ever dated in the first place.

He shouldn’t be living this fast, Law thought. After all he was effectively a stranger to Luffy, yet here he was just sharing a room with Law sleeping like it was the most normal thing. He had never met anyone else that comfortable ... He had never met anyone else that unrestrained ... That free. 

Law felt an intense urge to protect his little not-boyfriend from himself. Luffy seemed to Law to be on a self-destructive path. This could be a chance to get him back, he thought in his drunken stupor. He was still so bright and charming ... Law cut his thoughts off there, not wanting to further indulge himself. 

Luffy was in the worst shape Law had ever seen. A hole basted through his chest. I’m dreaming, Law tried to force himself to remember. His hands coated in blood pulled him from lucidity. This was the only time in his life he was unsure a patient would survive a surgery he performed. There was no one better; if Law couldn’t save him the boy couldn’t be saved.

Law opened an eye, freeing himself from the dream. He glanced back over at Luffy’s sleeping body. His chest rhythmically rising and falling. Here Luffy was, years later, living his life so recklessly! Law unconsciously grimaced as he thought of the potential dangers that could render meaningless the hard work put in to keep Luffy alive. Preserving Luffy’s life was probably his greatest achievement. He drifted off still half on the bed thinking of ways he would scold Luffy for acting so damn dangerously if he got the chance.


	2. Pillow Thief

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A fight distracts from an unwatched car.

A series of secret glances at Luffy holding Law’s pillow with his eyes closed made him feel warmth–if emotions could have temperatures. Law had dragged them both out pretty early. It had been a “compromise” for Luffy to have Law’s pillow if they had to leave so early. Normally Law would be bothered, Luffy hadn’t showered yet and he didn’t want to set his face on a dirty pillow. Having other pillows made relenting easy; Luffy could have just one, he had rationalized. He would still need to shower, today, Law commanded, but only to himself.

“Hey, Luffy.” He said gently, unsure if the guy was awake or not. “Mmm?” Luffy mumbled sleepily turning towards the taller man, his eyes still appeared closed, but Law knew Luffy could see him. 

“Why’d you want that pillow so bad, you’re not even propping your head against it?” He asked.

“Because it smells like you.” Luffy choked out, as if he had made a poor attempt at holding his breath while he spoke. Law caught Luffy’s face burn redder than he’d ever seen, before turning his eyes back to the road. He couldn’t stop himself from smirking. Since when did Luffy get embarrassed?

“Is that so?” Law hummed, not bothering to compose himself. He had made Luffy embarrassed, that was a win for anyone if they were being honest with themselves.

“Yes.” Luffy groaned. “Look, I can’t censor out my thoughts before I say them.”

Law could hardly understand Luffy through the pillow he was shoving his face into, trying to bury himself. “You mean at all?” That was worrying, Luffy never was a good liar this just made things worse. Law could hear a muffled sound of confirmation.

I could ask him anything and he’d have to tell me, Law thought in awe. He hadn’t seen Luffy in years, and despite people thinking he had always been an open book, Law knew that wasn’t true. Even in their years of dating Luffy had some things he avoided talking about. If there was something important he could keep tightlipped, not in a way that was secret, but in an impenetrable way. He was like a well guarded reserve famously known to hold wealth in a world that had no one with the ability to penetrate it. Luffy once ate for 16 hours straight just to avoid a conversation with Law. 

“How do you keep secrets?” Law asked.

“I can’t.” Luffy said miserably.

It hurt hearing him sound this upset. “That must be difficult. I’m sorry.” He said unconsciously moving his arm to rest on Luffy’s shoulders. Luffy used to pull Law’s arms around himself all the time. His presence made the act feel natural. When he finally noticed what he’d done it was too late. Luffy leaned into Law’s arm.

“I haven’t really cared before.” He said, still pink in the face, looking away as soon as they found each other’s eyes. 

“Why do you care now?” Law asked. Was Luffy sick? He had been traveling in the worst way possible … doesn’t eat well … probably hasn’t been to a hospital in a long time. If I hadn’t left I could have made sure he was more careful. He frowned, remembering he left Luffy.

“I just feel weird around you. I don’t know.” Luffy said. It was interesting to feel anxiety radiate off of someone who, to the best of Law’s knowledge, never gave a fuck about anyone else’s thoughts on things that made him who he was.

“Weird how?” Law asked, before he could stop himself. He knew he shouldn’t be pressing this subject, but some part of Luffy had to remember him. He bit the inside of his cheek as punishment for accidentally pressuring Luffy into something. He didn’t normally say the wrong thing and doing so now made him feel uneasy.

“Just weird! I don’t know. I don’t want to …” He trailed off, looking confused.

“Luffy?” Law asked, trying to pull him from his odd behavior.

“There’s a lot of shit I don’t know anything about. I don’t care about that. I just ask people who do know about it. I always meet someone who can do cool things I can’t do and they help me. I haven’t had this happen.” Luffy said, trying to shrink into the seat.

“This?” Law asked.

“A time where I don’t know what to do and don’t know anyone who can help.” He said, still avoiding eye-contact.

“Well I can help.” Law tried to be reassuring, but he knew what Luffy was talking about. Had Law’s assumptions regarding Luffy’s lifestyle been wrong? They must have been.

“Uhggg, no stupid, you can’t help because it’s about you.” Luffy said, his cheeks puffed out a bit as he sighed longer than he needed to.

Luffy’s lack of a filter seemed contagious, “What about me?” Law asked, rolling with it. He had already asked. He couldn’t take back his actions. He became increasingly aware of Luffy’s warm body under his arm. He didn’t want to be in a car right now, he wanted to be in bed, holding Luffy and having a real talk preferably.

“I haven’t known you very long and I don’t want to make you dislike me. It’s a feeling that doesn’t make sense. I don’t worry whether or not people dislike me. I don’t need to think about it. They prove to me with their actions how they feel about me. That’s always been enough. I don’t need or want deep talks about what my friendships mean. I don’t care about that.” He balled up his fists, staring hard out the window and raised his voice. “That’s what I don’t get! You saved my life. I don’t want to make you regret that.” He covered his mouth annoyed after that last sentence. 

Slowly he closed his eyes while sucking in a fair amount of air and releasing it slowly. “I’m not like this.”

___

Luffy could feel his heart being crushed, even if it wasn’t actually happening. He didn’t know who he was at the moment. Something about this dude just made him feel an impossible to understand mix of stupid feelings. He couldn’t even work out what they meant in his head. He wasn’t even sure he knew words for most of what he was feeling. It was a good thing for that too, because he didn’t want to feel more vulnerable. Why was he trying to defend himself? 

“You don’t have to be embarrassed about that Luffy. After what happened …” Luffy cut Law off before he could finish.

“What happened?” He asked. What was Law talking about. 

Law gave him a look that Luffy thought the word “skeptical” could probably define pretty well. If someone had wanted him to define the word, he would show them a picture of Law’s face right now, as he probably couldn’t get the words to explain it right. He then turned his head and bit his lip. “The surgery, you know. When I saved your life.” He mumbled.

“Oh!” Luffy laughed, thinking there was more to it. Law must just act funny. He felt himself relax back into the arm around his shoulders. It was nice being touched. He was a physical person by nature. He enjoyed hugging his friends, fighting, wrestling, it didn’t matter. Being close to people made Luffy feel alive. He hadn’t seen many people for a while, and the arm was a nice reminder he wasn’t alone for the moment. “That’s not it!” He waved his hand as if to physically fan away that idea. 

Law didn’t seem to relax after Luffy assured him though. “Hey!” Luffy shouted, and then held his head down slightly, holding his index finger over his lips, silencing himself, he apologetically glanced at Law, for being too loud. “Pull over I need to pee.” He said.

“I’m not pulling over here, we can go to a rest area.” Law said, as if he were disgusted with Luffy’s suggestion.

“What, we’re in the middle of no where. Why can’t I just pee outside. That’s stupid!” Luffy huffed, tempted to open the door and jump out, but he didn’t want Law to just drive off without him. He clenched his hands running through his options. He could listen to Law and continue to be around him, smelling him, feeling him … OR! He could do what he wanted and miss out on thanking the surgeon.

“You can hold it.” Law said through a laugh, squeezing Luffy’s shoulder’s tighter.

“Ugh! Traf! That’s not that point.” Luffy said. Law’s eyes quickly moved to look at Luffy. He must not like the nickname, Luffy thought. He’d have to use it a few more times to see for sure.

They drove in silence for a while longer, with only Luffy’s whines of “How much longer.” To remind Law that this WASN’T a peaceful atmosphere but a torture chamber. 

“Ten minutes.” Law said.

“How do you know.” Luffy said puffing his bottom lip out, annoyed that the surgeon had repeated that same time at least six times, but who was counting? 

“Saw a sign.” Law said without turning to look at Luffy.

“Laaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwww.” Luffy dragged out the word as long as he could, lightly hitting his back and head against the tattoo’d arm.

__

Gas stations in places like this weren’t particularly high on the list of things Law trusted his car near, but Luffy had insisted they both get out and go inside the building. The little brat probably thought he could get Law to buy him snacks, he chuckled humorously at the thought. Just like old times.

Luffy was stopped at a machine in the corner of the gas station next to a hall that led to the bathrooms. “I thought you had to pee?” Law asked.

“I doooooo!” He said. “But look!” Luffy gestured widely at the glowing and beeping thing. Of course Luffy would be drawn to something like this. Some shit would never change.

“Yeah, it’s a pinball machine.” Law said casually. “I’ll put quarters in it if you hurry it up.”

Luffy darted past Law, down the hall and out of sight. Law couldn’t help but smiling to himself, until he noticed a little old man glaring at him, which was the trick to bring his resting scowl back. He decided to grab coffee and cigarettes to set on the front counter while he waited for Luffy to come back.“Ok! Ok. Ok. Ok.” Luffy said jumping on Law as he was reading the nutrition information on a package of jerky he was pretty sure no one should eat. Law steadied Luffy enough for him to climb back down to the tiled floor. “Do it!” Luffy said, pointing at the pinball machine.

Law reached into his wallet to grab the few quarters that actually lived there and plugged them into the pinball machine. “So what you do is pull this thing.” He said, making room for Luffy to observe what he was doing, “It will shoot a ball out and then you press these buttons on the side to keep it from falling in these holes.” He pointed at the various dark spots for the ball to be lost in.

“Yes! Let me do it first okay!” Luffy said, wriggling his way in between Law and the machine. It made Law want to hold the short sailor. He pulled the plunger over-eagerly, and Law briefly worried he’d have to pay for the broken machine. 

Law wasn’t sure what he had expected to happen when Luffy played the game, but it wasn’t to consistently win for 54 minutes straight. If he was being honest with himself, he genuinely thought Luffy would get bored of the machine after a couple tries. He hadn’t lost one ball yet. Everyone in the store was looking over at the man playing for his life. Luffy looked like he was having a blast.

His eyes were determined and focused, however not on the ball itself, but rather places the ball eventually went to. It was as if Luffy knew what was going to happen. He’d concede that Luffy had a great spatial awareness, so it wasn’t unheard of that he’d be good at this game. “Is this really your first time playing?” He asked.

“I don’t know.” Luffy said honestly, not looking away from the machine. “It feels like it though!” Suddenly he jerked his head towards the wall that would be in front of the parking lot, finally losing his first ball of three. “We should go.” He said quietly.

Law cocked his head to the side, but knew Luffy probably had a good reason. It wasn’t like Law had wanted to stay in a gas station for over an hour. “Do you want anything before we go back on the road?”

“Yes!” Luffy said, a bit too loud, but didn’t seem to notice that fact, before grabbing various meat-related packaged goods up in his arms and moving to wait in line.

“You really gon’ eat all that son?” The short man who had previously been glaring at Law asked Luffy, pointing at his armful of good.

“Of course! Who buys things they don’t eat?” Luffy asked.

The short man laughed, moving over to the counter. “Where’d you learn to play pinball like that?” He said taking the items up on the counter to ring them up.

“I don’t know. There’s nothing to it when you already know what’s going to happen.” Luffy said, shrugging and opening up a candy bar that has already been counted towards the total.

The old man gave Luffy an understandably strange look, and Law felt secondhand embarrassment. He didn’t want anyone to hurt Luffy’s feelings, even if what he was saying was ridiculous. He had to step in before Luffy said anything dumb, but the old man was faster than him. “You some kind of fortune teller?” He asked.

“I don’t know. It helped me get here though!” Luffy pointed at Law, “He bet that I couldn’t predict the future and now he’s buying me snacks.” His laughter was dampened by his eating.

Law sighed. He had forgotten Luffy acted however he wanted to where ever he wanted to. “How much will that be.” He said, before Luffy or the old man could speak again.

“You kids shouldn’t do the drugs around here.” The old man said, looking at Luffy with annoyance. “That’ll be 76 dollars.” He said.

Luffy’s face twisted up in confusion. “Ok? You’re a weird old dude.” He said, finally shaking it off with a laugh, leaving the shop.

The man shook his head, and Law grabbed up the now bagged items from the counter, hurrying after Luffy trying to avoid further uncomfortable conversations.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Law could hear a man aggressively yell. He already knew Luffy had something to do with it before he poked his head out of the door to see Luffy had accidentally spilled a drink Law didn’t even see him grab all over an extremely tall blonde man.

“Your shirt was going to catch on fire. You should thank me you idiot.” Luffy said, crossing his arms, haughtily staring up at the man who had to be twice his size. 

“What kind of fucking excuse is that? I’m not going to ask for you to say sorry, I’m going to make you say sorry.” The man said, grabbing the flimsy vest Luffy was wearing. Law should really get him more clothes.

“Hey, he’s had a long day. I’m sorry he spilled that drink on you, I can pay you for it.” Law said calmly.

“I did not SPILL the drink!” Luffy yelled now glaring at law. “I saved his shirt! It was going to catch on fire. Do none of you understand basic words?!”

The man threw his fist at Luffy only after Luffy had already ducked and tripped him. “Ugh.” The man said. “What bastard of a father allowed you to continue living?”

Luffy scratched his the back of his head, tilting his neck to the side. He squinted his eyes questioningly. “Monkey D. Dragon.” He answered, absentmindedly, “You’re an ungrateful dude, you know. I saved you a lot of trouble. What’s my dad gotta do with that? I don’t even know him.” 

Law cautiously grabbed Luffy’s arm to lightly tug him in the direction of the car. “What, you going to let your little boyfriend protect you from a fight.” The blond, who was built like a fucking wall, asked standing up.

Luffy whipped around, “No! I would protect him from being annoyed with a stupid little fight with someone like you!” He spat ripping his arm out of Law’s hand.

“Hey.” Law said, trying to sound soothing. “I’m tired, can you fight him another time?” He did his best to manage a softer frown, something that didn’t read as harshly as his favored sour expression.

Luffy grumbled to himself, standing still. “Fine.” He said under his breath, almost stomping his feet towards the car.

The blonde pulled out a gun cocked it and aimed the thing at Luffy. “You owe me an apology.” He demanded as he stood up from the ground. Luffy threw his hand at the man, grabbing his gun. His arm made a snapping sound as it returned to normal. “A power holder?” The man asked incredulously. 

“Yeah, we both are. So screw off!” Luffy yelled, throwing the unloaded gun on the ground along with its removed bullets that clattered as they hit the asphalt. “Come on Law, let’s go!” He bossed, slamming the car door after seating himself.

Law shrugged, taking another look at the man behind them. “Why are you here?” The blond asked. Law just smirked at him, before closing the door behind himself. 

“Glad that’s over.” Law said, currently relieved they could go back to the peaceful drive. He waited a minute for Luffy to respond, before looking over at him. He was hunched over, silent. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s gone.” Luffy said.

“What’s gone?” Law asked, finally observing the inside of the car, instead of just staring at Luffy.

“Your pillow.” Luffy said bitterly.

“It’s okay, I …” Law stopped himself, “We locked the car.”

“Yeah.” Luffy huffed, pulling his knees to his chest to hug. “Someone took it.”

Law decided to find an isolated spot to pull over and search the car. They looked for a while, but only the pillow seemed to be missing. “Guess someone was tired.” Law tried to joke, despite being worried by the current situation himself.

“I don’t like this.” Luffy mumbled, shoving his face against the window, as they began driving again.

“I don’t either.” Law admitted. Paranoia told him his fears were catching up with him. The timing would make sense as well as the strangeness of the object taken. Law glared at the road. Everything always seemed to come up whenever he and Luffy were together.

“Do you think it’s my fault?” Luffy asked, through biting his lip.

“No.” Law said.

“I’m hungry.” Luffy said, accepting Law’s answer.

Law knew it wouldn’t matter how much he argued with Luffy over him having just eaten all of those snacks, the tiny little thing could eat an incomprehensible amount. “I’ll find somewhere else to stop.”

__

The motel had a restaurant and store attached to it, a fact that had Luffy incapable of thinking up a better place to stop. “You don’t think it’s a little … dingy?” Law asked. 

“I like sleeping outside. I don’t think you should ask me a question made for yourself Law.” Luffy said shaking his head, trying to parse the scents of the foods coming from the dilapidated establishment. “You gotta eat, you’ll feel way better about here when you eat. It’s going to be great.”

“If you say so.” Law said, holding the door open for Luffy, and guiding him in, as if Luffy didn’t know the way. 

Luffy was going to shove Law’s hands away before he saw a neat statue. It was in the shape of some kind of fruit with a face on it. He walked over and traced his fingers along the lines of a distressed smile. 

“Luffy.” Law whispered urgently, trying to pull him away from the statue.

“What. I was just looking.” He said, taking his finger away from the grainy stone. Law took that as his cue to pull Luffy into a booth. They were both sitting on the same side. A waitress wordlessly gave them menu’s, before walking away again. The place was empty, so Luffy couldn’t figure out why she was acting so busy. 

“You shouldn’t touch things that are behind counters.” Law said, opening up the menu. He seemed to only look at ingredients and nutrition information. Boring.

“I didn’t break anything why should anyone care.” Luffy said defensively. 

“You never know what could happen.” Law said.

“I do too! Does no one listen to me? I know what will happen.” Luffy shook his head before opening up the menu himself. He could see a glass cabinet with various sweets on display and moved to go look at them. He collided into Law, now turned towards him, lightly shoving him back down. “Uhhhggg, did you make me sit here so I can’t get out to look around? This isn’t how it’s supposed to work I can’t even see your face as easily.” He whined.

Law just pointed to the menu, with another sigh, as he rubbed his temples. 

“This doesn’t even have any pictures.” Luffy said annoyed.

“That’s why you have to read it.” Law said.

“I can’t the letters move too much.” He said impatiently tossing down the menu.

Law raised an eyebrow at him, “How long has that been going on?”

Luffy’s eyes looked up as he tried to recall, he mouthed a couple numbers, trying to keep track of the years. “Well I don’t know at least a lot of years.” He said, giving up on an exact answer.

“Can you not read anymore?” Law asked.

“I can read! I’m not stupid!” Luffy said, throwing a glare at Law. “Sometimes the words won’t stay still. I don’t always want to wait for them to stop moving. It’s a newtance.” He said.

“Nuisance?” Law asked.

Luffy waved his hand in Law’s face, “Yeah it means annoying. I can’t believe you’re asking me if I can read when you don’t know that.”

Law’s eyes softened and raised a corner of his mouth into a lopsided tightlipped smile and laughed. Luffy liked that it wasn’t a restrained laugh like he normally used when he found something funny. This laugh was rich and honest, something Luffy was sure Law was bad at. Usopp was bad at honesty too, so it didn’t matter very much to Luffy, but Law’s dishonesty wasn’t as … honest? As Usopp’s. He scratched his head, both in confusion at Law’s sudden outburst and the new difference between an honest lie and a dishonest lie. 

“I know what you’ll want already.” Law said.

“I want to know!” Luffy said.

“It’s a surprise.” Law said, winking. 

Luffy punched the taller man in the arm, hard enough to leave a mark. Law could be so annoying. “How are you supposed to surprise me when I’m going to hear you order it!”

An obnoxiously knowing smile was plastered over Law’s stupid face, Luffy craned his neck forward to get a better look at it. He fell over a bit when the waitress bumped the table, but Law’s tattoo’d hand steadied him before anything happened. “What’ll you have?” She asked.

Law ordered a bunch of stuff in a language Luffy didn’t speak. “Oh.” He said, when the lady finally left. “That’s cheating.” He said decidedly.

Law rubbed his fist teasingly on the top of Luffy’s head. “We weren’t playing a game.” He said.

Luffy raised his hand to move his hair back to the way it was before. Something about hair going in the wrong direction felt off and he’d rather not deal with it. He punched Law again, this time softer and in the chest. “You’re always playing a game.” Luffy said, before covering his mouth in acknowledgement of that probably not being the right thing to say.

“Naw.” Law said, shoving Luffy playfully. 

Luffy felt his face heat up. Looking down he could see even his chest and shoulders had turned red. He could feel his stomach knot in a strange almost pleasant feeling. He had felt this before, but he couldn’t place where. Getting touched by Law was enjoyable. He buried his face into Law and was met with the various scents that made up the taller man. Luffy wanted to stay there longer and figure out where all those individual scents came from, but the waitress lady was back with food.

___

Law wanted to feel guilty for not establishing better physical boundaries with Luffy, but he hadn’t been with anyone since he left. No one else could make him feel the same way. His type before Luffy had always ended badly for both of them. He had previously thought he’d be happier with someone who had a similar personality. Being wrong happens to everyone.

He was leaned over the table, head resting on his hand, absentmindedly staring at Luffy eating. Excitement pulsed through the smaller male as he ate desserts he didn’t know he’d get. It was nice being around someone happy again. He had an abundance of it from his friends back home on the ship they were supposed travel in together treating patients. Somehow even friends as good as them couldn’t compare to this.

Luffy said something that sounded like “Okay, what next.” Through a full mouth ending the meal. Law had long since paid. Rarely did Law stay in restaurants very long, but this sort of thing was normal with Luffy. They’d been at the place for three and a half hours, which was excessive by any reasonable person’s standards. Law had finished eating within the first 20 minutes of their food initially being brought to them, but the insatiable pit besides him couldn’t be moved.

Had Law left when he wanted to, he wouldn’t have eaten as much. He should thank Luffy for that. The primary source of his calories for the past few weeks had been alcohol. This was the longest he’d been sober since … he couldn’t really remember when. 

“Uh … Law? You okay?” Luffy was cautiously waving his hand in front of Law’s face.

“Yeah, you were right. I do feel better about this place after eating.” Law said.

“Oh good.” Luffy said, smearing some sort of jelly across his face.

Law grabbed a napkin and wiped the excess red goop off of the smaller man’s face. “You ready?” He asked, getting up, and turning to look at a blushing mess. 

“Coulda’ got that myself.” Luffy grumbled darting out of the booth as soon as he could, hiding his face from Law, but even while turned around his neck was still a nice shade of pink. 

___

The motel was far more fragmented than either had thought landing them half a mile away from the lobby of the damn place, but finally Law unlocked the door shoving it inward, for Luffy to go in first.

“There’s only one bed.” Luffy said.

“Uh, yeah, I can sleep on the floor if you want.” Law said, shutting the door behind himself. He situated his things as Luffy bounced on the bed. “I’m going to shower, try not to break anything or start any fights.” He said, smiling. Luffy just scowled in Law’s direction.

Showers always seemed like the last place Law wanted to be until he was actually under the running water. It briefly washed away the stress of life. He dried off and dressed as quickly as he could.

He handed Luffy a plastic bag, “Here you can shower, too.” He said, shoving him in the direction of the shower.

Luffy made a confused sound in the back of his throat, before shrugging and closing himself in the little bathroom.

Law began putting pillowcases on just purchased pillows, he could hear Luffy singing loudly and out of tune in the shower. He used to shower with Luffy just to press his mouth over the sailor’s so as not to get another terrible song stuck in his head. Now he was just happy at the second chance given to be in Luffy’s presence at all.

He threw a pillow on the floor for himself, it wouldn’t be the best, but Luffy had been ruffing it pretty hard. Law felt Luffy deserved the bed based on that alone. Sure sleeping on the floor wasn’t Law’s favorite thing, but he didn’t want to make Luffy uncomfortable by sharing the bed. He clumsily got on his knees to lay on the pillow. What seemed like just as he closed his eyes he was jumped on roughly by Luffy.

“Hey, what are you doing.” Luffy said, straddling Law and shaking him. “I can sleep on the floor. I’m used to it! I like sleeping on the floor actually. It doesn’t bother me. So you should take the bed. You paid for the place!”

“No, I’m comfortable now.” Law said, firmly holding his position while Luffy tried moving him. Luffy wasn’t going to move anything while Law had a room up. He smirked up at Luffy, who definitely didn’t know what was going on.

“Why wont you move!” Luffy grunted, trying his best to pick Law up, before he was suddenly on the bed, switching places with the air that had previously occupied the space. “TRAF! You’re such a cheater!” The smaller man shot an arm around Law slamming himself back to where he had been.“You’re the one trying to change the rules of the game.” Law said, still unwilling to budge.

“I’m going to stay here, so if you want the bed to go to waste that’s your decision!” Luffy said stubbornly grabbing a pillow from across the room, and laying it on top of Law’s chest before settling down next to him.

At this point neither of them could get up without taking a hit to their pride. So much for Law’s nice gesture. Luffy always made it difficult for people to do anything nice for him … Well at least Luffy made it difficult for Law to do anything nice for him. He gave up and fell asleep, not wanting to continue arguing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will edit as future chapters are published.


	3. Out of the Bag

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Out in the open, mostly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will edit as further chapters are posted.

Sleep gifted a passing afterglow that Law would eventually have to write a thank you letter for. Currently, all memories of inconvenient truths were gone and he could finally catch his breath. Warmth pressing against Law’s chest managed to divide his attention so thoroughly he thoughtlessly ran a hand in circles over the small of the source’s back eliciting an unconscious hum of approval.

Grabby hands from the sleeping man pinch at his shirt reminding him they hadn’t changed positions throughout the night. Historically, resting wasn’t enough to hold the smaller man still. In the past when they had slept together kicking legs were an occupational hazard. Law wondered if Luffy’s newfound stillness was proof him being comfortable or a sign of maturity.

“Luffy.” Law said softly shaking the body on top of him.

Annoyed sounds came from the back of Luffy’s throat as he raised his head. For a moment their eyes met, and he could feel both of them relax. A faint pink covered the smaller man’s face as he raised the corners of his mouth into a muted smile. His hands moved towards Law’s face, and delicately traced stubble, before he jerked his head to the side. “Sabo?” He said clambering up while rubbing the sleep from his eyes. 

Law could still feel the missing hands on his face. They had barely landed yet their presence had been powerful enough to leave an invisible mark. He wanted the hands back, he wanted more of them. It wasn’t right to tease him like this. Famished without physical intimacy, he had almost missed the words spoken. “Sabo? What?” Law questioned while sitting up to face the same direction.

Sure enough, Luffy’s brother was casually leaning against the wall with his hands in his pant pockets. He stood only a few feet away from where the two had slept. Despite not being related by blood, the blonde was one of the few people Law knew of with eyes that resembled Luffy’s. In contrast to Law’s, these eyes were capable of displaying a sort of joy infectious enough to sway the feelings of mobs in their favor. Unfortunately, the eyes currently reflected a quiet rage above an unfriendly smile. He softened his features. “Good morning.” Sabo said nodding his head up in Law’s direction.

The voice was polite, but Law knew there was a disdain that permeated the entirety of this interaction. Had Law not been used to this sort of behavior he wouldn’t have been able to appear unperturbed. He couldn’t react emotionally to this. If a fight broke out, even if Law came out the winner his body would still pay heavily. He returned the upward nod, “I take it you happened to be in the area and stopped by on a whim?” He kept his voice light so not to be read as threatening.

Sabo blinked slowly, as if trying to hold himself back. Law prepared himself for any potential blows, knowing the blonde wasn’t a reserved fighter. “Why are you here?” He asked with a tone designed to lull its listeners into a false sense of security. The question Would have expertly mimicked concern to anyone not already well acquainted with The Revolutionary Army’s second in command. This was an audible representation of a beach littered with treasures revealed under a rapidly receding tide; evidence of a tsunami is frequently lost on tourists of the sea.

Luffy jumped up to hug Sabo, ignoring whatever moment the blonde was trying to have with Law. “We’re on a road trip!” He answered, sounding oblivious to the edge in Sabo’s behavior. “I thought you were too busy with work to take vacations!” He exclaimed.

Their acting skills were sickeningly believable fooling nearly every person they encountered. Law wasn’t bad at reading people, yet it had taken years for him to realize Luffy’s understanding of social atmospheres was conveniently selective. Everyone shrugged it off as him being stupid. There’s a lot of freedom for a person shrouded in perceived incompetence. Sabo was evidence the short sailor had learned from the best.

Sabo wrapped his arms around Luffy lifting him in a tight hug, before setting him down. “Unfortunately, I’m not here for fun.” He frowned at Luffy likely anticipating his younger brother’s   
whining.

“You never have time for fun anymore.” Luffy said, scrunching his face up and punching Sabo in the arm. The hit was heavy enough to knock a normal person down, but received no attention from the taller brother. 

After a few moments the blonde looked at his brother with something Law could only describe as relief. “I know.” Sabo absently said using his hand to playfully shove Luffy’s hair over his face.

“Uhg, hey!” Luffy yelled, fixing his hair.

Sabo had clearly created an opening to train his attention back on Law. “I’m still waiting for an answer.” His words came out friendly, but Law knew better than to let his guard down.

“Are you bullying my friend?” Luffy asked Sabo, saving Law once again from having to answer the brother’s unsettling question. 

“Yes, are you going to try and stop me?” Sabo asked as he crossed his arms. His eyes brightened as either ends of his mouth curved into a competitive smile. 

“Well maybe.” Luffy huffed back moving himself in front of Law. “We’re just on a road trip.” 

“Why has your road trip led you here?” Sabo’s question was again, exclusively, directed at Law. 

“I had prior obligations in this area. Why does it matter to you?” Law knew the answer to his question since he got the news from Luffy himself when they had first reunited. He couldn’t even figure out why he had chosen to fuck around with Sabo. Luffy’s lax attitude was starting to rub off on Law.

Sabo laughed eerily soft, it was enough to make the hair on the back of Law’s neck stand up. The blond flashed a deceptively inviting smile at. “Try again.”

Law raised his hands as if to surrender. “I know how it looks. I do. I just thought he might go there.” He carefully monitored his voice, to keep it as steady as possible. He didn’t want to admit to himself why he had picked this destination, but that didn’t mean he could hide it from Sabo. The bastard had to already know the reason and was toying with him. Sabo nodded his head towards Luffy effectively asking the question he came here for.

“I can do whatever I want, Sabo.” Luffy yelled, hands balled into fists. 

“Of course you can. I’m not stopping you.” Sabo assured his brother. 

Luffy relaxed his muscles, allowing his usual cheery demeanor to seep back through. “Then what’s the problem?” 

“Luffy, you should go eat breakfast. I will pay for anything you order.” Sabo said. 

Luffy eyed the blond suspiciously, but left the room only after using pointing his index and middle finger at his eyes, and then directing them at his brother to let him know he’d be watching if anything was tried. Expecting Luffy to turn down free food was delusional. 

They both stayed quiet, knowing how far Luffy had to walk to be out of earshot. The tension was like a weighted fog Sabo seemed to control at will. “We met accidentally. Nothing is happening.” Law said as soon as Luffy was far enough away.

“Doesn’t look like nothing.” Sabo said, looking at his nails, as if he wasn’t paying close attention to everything around him. 

“He wouldn’t take the bed. That’s why I was on the floor. You know how he is once he’s made his mind up.” Law said. 

“Are you going to tell him what happened?” Sabo asked, Law could feel the blond’s eyes ripping holes into his skin. It was like being covered in hungry ants. 

“I don’t see a point. He’s not going to remember. I think he’d feel bad about forgetting. You and I both know he doesn’t care about someone’s history.” Law hated that Luffy wouldn’t remember even if he was told.

“You’re going to pretend that this situation is the same? To me?” Sabo asked coldly. “You said it would be easier to leave without returning and here you are.” The blond narrowed his eyes. “I don’t care about you being here, but don’t fuck around with my brother. You can’t seesaw between whatever is most convenient for you at the time.” Controlled rage replaced the act put on for Luffy’s benefit. 

Law sighed. “I’m going to tell him. I’ll know when the time is right.” He wasn’t intimidated he just felt guilty. He deserved Sabo’s anger; he was making stupid decisions.

“I implore you not to bother if you’re only going to run away afterwards.” Sabo said before glaring at Law again. “I’m not sure what any of us would do if Luffy had to watch you run away again.” He spoke gently, but the threat was obvious.

“I’m not going to hurt him. That was the entire point of my leaving.” Law said in a voice far more calm than he felt. “I’m a doctor. I’m bound by a code of ethics. I can’t willingly cause unnecessary harm. You know all of this.” Law glanced at the door, paranoid Luffy was just outside, ready to catch him in this lie.

“I knew all of this. I wanted reaffirmation.” The blonde said content with Law’s answer. 

By the time Law got a chance to look back at Sabo, the man was already gone. Where the fuck could he have gone? Law had no idea.

___

“What did stupid Sabo want.” Luffy asked not even bothering to hide the bitterness in his voice. Law opened his mouth to answer, but Luffy continued on. “He treats me like an idiot, but he’s an idiot.” 

He hadn’t been able to stop himself from eating everything near him to bury the anxiety that was eating away at his stomach. Everyone was always hiding things from him, because he couldn’t keep his stupid mouth shut. 

Stupid, stupid, stupid, his thoughts repeated over and over again. Swallowing, he looked up at Law hesitantly. “Can I know what’s going on?” It hurt that his own brother didn’t want to say something important in front of him. It obviously meant something was being hidden. No matter how old he got or how many fights he won, Sabo still treated him like his kid brother.

“It’s a lot.” Law said, frowning as if he was super conflicted. That meant he cared, right?

“I can handle it.” Luffy said staring into Law’s eyes hoping the taller man would be able to look into his thoughts and view the truth for himself. 

Law’s eyes wavered, and he looked away. “I don’t know if I can handle it.”

“Please, Law.” He said putting his hand on the man’s face in hopes of making eye contact again, it seemed to do the trick. The taller man leaned into Luffy’s hands, stubble poking him.

After a silence that felt like a million years Law finally spoke up, “Can I tell you in parts?” 

Luffy nodded vigorously, hoping it would convey a sense of urgency. He didn’t care how long it took as long as they just let him know. He didn’t like being kept out of secrets between important people in his life. Who would? Perverts, probably.

“You lost your memory a couple years ago.” Law said. 

“Yeah, Law, I know, I’m not stupid.” Luffy said stopping himself from chewing on his own hands now that all nearby food had been consumed. He still felt hungry, after all he’d eaten. It was never enough. Stress only made him want to eat more.

“We used to date.” Law said flatly.

“I knew it.” Luffy said slamming his fist on the table. “Wait, what?” He looked up at Law to find non-existent traces of a joke. It was something he wanted to hear. No longer would he need to make up reasons for sticking around.

“For several years. I’m sorry. I didn’t know how to tell you.” Law admitted. Luffy didn’t like how avoidant the man’s eyes were. He was acting as though he had done something horribly wrong, but they’d only been around each other for a day. How could Luffy be mad about not being told? It didn’t matter. Law should know it doesn’t matter. 

“Why you break up with me?” Luffy asked.

Law looked away again. “We never broke up. One hour you knew me, the next I was basically a stranger.” 

“Do you know what happened to me?” Luffy asked.

“No. We have yet to find anyone with that knowledge alive. You were beyond barely hanging on, you actually died. I revived you.” Law was still refusing to make eye contact and his voice wasn’t as even as he always tried to make it. 

Luffy let out a disappointed “Oh.” Realizing there was too much to take in at the moment. Rarely did he find himself without anything to say. He wanted a physical distraction.

“I’d understand if you no longer wanted anything to do with me.” Law said barely above a whisper. 

“No! It’s not that!” Luffy unintentionally yelled into Law’s ear. “It’s just a lot to think about.” He finished in the same quiet voice Law had just used. “How come most of my memories stayed?” 

“I don’t know the answer to that either and I’ve been looking for it.” Law’s body slumped forward. 

Luffy moved carefully, making sure Law could anticipate his movements as he wrapped his arms around the man, pulling him against his chest. “I’m not going to let you go again when I know you don’t want to. I couldn’t remember before. I’m sorry I forgot.” 

“Luffy, don’t be sorry about that. It’s not your fault. I shouldn’t have left you.” Law tried squirming out of the smaller man’s unbreakable grip, but found the task impossible. 

“Why did you?” Luffy asked with nothing more behind the question than curiosity.

“I don’t know.” Law mumbled. 

“You can tell me later.” Luffy chirped. “Thanks for trusting me.” He gave Law another squeeze, not really wanting to let the man go. They stayed that way for a while.

“We should get going.” Law said into Luffy’s neck. 

Luffy yawned, Law’s company was the only thing stopping him from sleeping right there. “Where are we going?” He asked, finally pulling away from Law.

“You feel like a little adventure?” Law asked. 

“Always!” Luffy said grabbing Law’s hand pulling him out of the restaurant. He had forgotten this was where they had been the entire. Luffy figured Law must have some sort of ability to pull them into a different world when they were together.


	4. Too Slow. Too Fast!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Law doesn't play fair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will edit as new chapters are posted.

“I just think it’s messed up everyone decided not to tell me about our relationship all because you decided they shouldn’t.” Luffy grumbled into the window of the passenger seat. Several days had gone by since Sabo had visited. The more he thought about the whole situation, the more he hurt.

“I was being selfish. I thought you’d be happier with how I left things.” Law said. He hadn’t relaxed around Luffy once since that talk. His body was rigid forcing him to drive in a mechanical sort of way. 

“Can we start over.” Luffy asked. He couldn’t change the decisions people made in the past nor could he make that period of time better. “I don’t want you to beat yourself up over it. I’m only upset my friends let you do it. They could have told me too.” 

“What do you mean by starting over?” Law visibly perked up, it could even be heard in his voice. 

“Why can’t we date again?” Luffy asked hopefully. To his memory he’d never dated before and the concept sounded fun when it involved Law. 

“Luffy.” Law said through a sigh. “You barely know me. People aren’t supposed to date this soon.” 

“We already dated before for loads of time. That’s enough for me.” Luffy whined. “You know me. You said you liked me. Why isn’t that enough reason? Sometimes you’re so dumb.”

Silence enveloped the car. Luffy could see Law was chewing on the inside of his cheek, in deep thought. “You think too much. It’s not even a big deal. What are you so afraid of. You’re not a coward so stop it.” He punched the other man’s shoulder as sometimes it was easier to physically express what he was feeling. 

An unreasonably long sigh escaped Law’s mouth. “I’m afraid of hurting you, Luffy.” He said putting extra emphasis on the word “you.” 

Several frustrated sounds came from the back of Luffy’s throat. “Oh I see. So you think I’m too weak to take care of myself? You think I’m not strong enough to be around you.” He was pressing his fists into his thighs trying not to physically lash out. 

“I know you’re strong.” Law said. 

“Then what!?” Luffy yelled. “No, you know what? This is stupid. We never broke up so technically we don’t have to start over. Unless you want to break up right now? Do it if that’s how you really feel.” 

“You win.” Law said under his breath.

“How am I supposed to get to know you again if you don’t tell me anything? The last six days you said barely anything to me. I like you, I don’t care if I can’t remember everything. I’ll learn and parts of me already know. I can feel it. Uhg.” Luffy hit Law’s shoulder again without looking at him. 

“What do you want to know?” Law asked. 

“Have we had sex?” Luffy asked unable to stop himself even if he wanted to. He hid his face in the shirt Law had let him borrow. The smell was comforting which did a lot for the anxiety churning in his stomach. He had wanted to ask so many better questions before this. Now he looked like a weirdo. He poked his head out a bit to see Law sporting a cocky grin.

Law quietly laughed. “Everyone assumed I was the first to initiate. No one would believe that it was always you. It was a joke between us.” 

“What’d I do?” Luffy asked no longer hiding his face. 

Mischief flashed through Law’s eyes. “What do you think you did?” He said lowly. 

Something about the voice used sent a jolt down Luffy’s spine. Face flushed he stared wide-eyed at the man, lips parting against his will. “I want to kiss you.” He said breathlessly. 

“Oh?” Law said huskily not looking away from the road. 

“Law! You devil!” Luffy yelled trying to calm himself down. He hit the laughing bastard a couple times. 

Law held up his hand defensively, “Luffy! I’m driving.” He tried sounding angry, but was incapable of doing it through his unrelenting smile.

“Well maybe we should stop somewhere!” Luffy huffed, tired of throwing punches. 

“Maybe we should.” Law agreed hovering a hand over the smaller brunettes knee before jerking it away in a panic of visible second thoughts. 

Luffy grabbed the hand back and placed his fingers between Law’s larger tattooed ones, studying them carefully. “You weren’t always so awkward were you?” Luffy simpered before raising the hand to his face and lightly kissing it. 

Law was looking far too smug for Luffy’s tastes. He wanted to surprise that cocky bastard, but the car was far too limiting. “Who can say?” He asked. 

“Well I don’t know! That’s why I asked you, dummy.” Luffy said trying to unravel his hand from the tattooed one, but its owner refused to let him. Finally, he was getting somewhere he thought. It was nice to feel wanted. He knew Law was probably right that they shouldn’t rush into anything, but it’s not like Luffy was about to start listening to shitty arbitrary rules. Law overthought things instead of just doing what he wanted to do, it was so annoying! 

The fisherman couldn’t understand why anyone would willfully deny themselves things they wanted. Where was the logic in that? If you can do what you want, you should! That’s how he lived his own life and it took him everywhere. The dark under Law’s eyes was proof he wasn’t having a good time. People shouldn’t make themselves miserable for no reason! Smart people sure are idiots.

“I’ve never seen you embarrassed before. It’s so weird.” Law said, before a smile, that luffy could only describe as sinister, crossed his face. “I kind of like it.”

“Well I’m not usually! Everything goes stupid when I’m around you.” He said moving to cross his arms which alerted him to the hand he was holding. “Let’s just camp here!” He said opening the moving car’s door and jumping out, he didn’t move anywhere though. His eyes narrowed impatiently as his head tilted towards Law who looked startled for no reason. “Stupid room.” He said under his breath.

“Don’t. Jump. Out. Of. Moving. Cars.” Law punctuated every word, kind of like an old lady he knew did all the time. Luffy was back in his seat and the car door had already closed by itself. The surgeon looked like he wanted to smack his face with one of his hands, but neither were free, despite his sprightly efforts. The whole car was hovering in a room. “You’re damn lucky I have the power to safely negate inertia.” He scowled.

Wryly the shorter man stared in frustration at Law, unintimidated. “Well I don’t care about enerdshaw, I would have been fine.” He huffed. Law was always saying stuff that didn’t make sense.

“You may have ended up fine, but I can’t say the same for this car.” Law said using his eyes to aggressively point at a tree that just happened to be in front of them. “I thought you could see the future, you’re not doing much to convince me of that.”

“Well obviously I knew nothing bad would happen otherwise I wouldn’t have done it!” Luffy said defensively as Law clearly didn’t understand anything ever.

“That doesn’t make sense Luff.” Law chided, scowl becoming more severe.

Luffy grinned, “I understand something you don’t!” He said, triumphantly looking Law in the eyes.

“It’s the opposite. You know so little you erroneously believe you’ve won.” Luffy could tell he was trying to sound all tough or whatever, but it was so cool knowing more about something than a surgeon. Weren’t those guys supposed to know everything? Whatever.

“Sore loser.” Luffy said with a glint in his eyes. “So we camping here or what?” The sun was close to setting and Law liked to follow stupid rules.

“We don’t even know who owns the land in this area. We can’t trespass whenever we want. Getting in trouble with the legal system here isn’t something we want to happen. If we get on his radar it will be more difficult to accomplish things.” Law said trying to sound all rational.

Luffy opened and closed his free hands as if it were a mouth “Neh, neh, neh.” he said a few pitches higher than normal while scrunching up his face to mimic Law’s. “I’m a depressed nerd who follows rules.” It was then Luffy remembered a word Sabo always said to people he didn’t like. “Fascist.” He said as smug as he could manage. He knew this insult was good, because it always made everyone hate whoever got called it.

Law pulled his head back, his mouth was open in a disgusted frown, teeth tightly hidden under his lips. He squinted at Luffy. “Fascist? Really? Really?” He harshly circled his forearm up and down with every word he spoke as if it made what he was saying more right. His mouth closed and he shook his head in disbelief.

“Yeah, if you weren’t a fascist we’d camp here.” Luffy said raising his chin, in superiority.

Law groaned, “Fine, okay, whatever. We can just stay in the car for all I care.” He looked away in defeat.

Maybe he didn’t know the most words in the world, but at least he knew the ones that always worked when Sabo used them. His eyes gleamed, “We get to sleep in the car?” He said, excitement bouncing off his tongue. It wasn’t something he had ever done. No one he knew growing up had a car, everyone walked everywhere, but this made sense! A car was a house you could take everywhere on the land ... Not as cool as a boat, but still pretty cool.

Law used his room to place the car on the ground in a relatively hidden clearing several miles away from the previous location. “There, happy?” He said warping the sound of the words with his scowl.

“Duh! That was so cool! We’re so far away!” His eyes must have been blinding to the taller man because he looked away, face relaxing. Forgetting whatever they had been talking about, he ran out of the car to find wood for a campfire. This was going to be great. Law was always staying in super fancy places. It was always motels and beds with this guy. He had a car after all. He should use it properly. Luffy knew if he could drive he would probably have a blast.

Picking up various sticks and logs, he frowned. Even if he could drive it took money to move the things. That was stupid. Why would he pay for something like that when he could just walk. Whatever, he would enjoy Law keeping the car fed for exploring while he could. He’d build the biggest fire to show his appreciation, and catch something to eat. Law looked like he could eat more.

He set rocks together in a large circle, organizing the wood he had picked up inside of it. “How come …” He started, catching a sound of acknowledgement from the nearby man. “You’re a doctor, but you don’t even eat that much meat. Don’t you know it’s supposed to make you healthy! You’re all pale and worn out looking! How come patients trust you to take care of them when you don’t even do a very good job for yourself!?”

Law laughed vibrantly, it was nice to hear. There had been too much unnecessary tension the past few hours. He laughed along, deciding to forget about all that stuff. His partner was happy and that was all that mattered.

“You say the most off-the-wall shit.” Law said between attempts at catching his breath. “I don’t think Garp is an actual human with this bizarre crap that comes out of your mouth. I’m not sure which is worse, how crazy it all is or how it actually works for you.” They were sitting next to each other on the dirt of the forest floor in front of a lightly smoking stack of burnables. They were so close Luffy could feel the warmth come off Law’s body before he felt it from the small fire.

“I say bizarre crap?” Luffy said indignantly. 

“Yeah.” Law said in that low voice.

Luffy shivered at the tonal drop leaning into its source as he no longer needed to baby the fire. He breathed in the nostalgia that clung to Law’s body. “It’s hot when you do that.” He exhaled into the chest his face was pressed against, creating a small damp patch on the shirt. That was interesting. He did it again, but it wasn’t satisfying enough. He was more interested in the skin underneath.

Before Law could say or do anything to dissuade the shorter man, he was already on his back with Luffy under his shirt, running his tongue from just above the gasping man’s navel towards his toned muscles. He hummed as he lined the groves of Law’s abdomen with a thin layer of saliva. The skin pressed back against him as his partner inhaled sharply. “Mm.” He whispered, before finding the man’s nipple. He wrapped his lips around the pink skin, ghosting his tongue over the now hardened nub. The skin that had once tasted of very little was now faintly salty. 

He smiled against the hardened skin, as he brought his hand up to the other lightly grazing his thumb around the area, never touching it. He knew Law was trying to keep quiet, but that was dumb. Luffy wanted the body he lay atop to make those low sounds that must have had a direct connection to his dick. 

He moaned as he rocked his hips against Law’s which earned him a gasp from the man so obsessed with being stoic. His muscles clenched as a wave of of arousal washed over him, repeating the movement several times, getting a new sound from Law each time they were pressed together. 

“Lu-l…” Law tried saying something, but Luffy wasn’t in the mood to talk. 

“Shh.” He mumbled against the man’s nipple making its owner quiver just enough for it to be noticed. He pressed their hips together harder than any of the previous attempts, while harshly rolling the hardened nipple between his thumb and index finger, as he nipped his teeth just above the tip of the other. Luffy moaned at the scraping sensation under his teeth. This was good, but he needed more.

The next thing Luffy knew they were both inside of the car. He would have missed the fire’s presence if it wasn’t replaced with the burning desire under him. He latched his fingers around the hem of the shirt he was under and swiftly pulled hit off, finally able to see the tattoos that graced the chest under him. 

Between tasting the marks and biting the heaving mess’s parted bottom lip he couldn’t decide which he wanted to do more. Maybe it was best to stop thinking. Quickly he ran his mouth over the edge of the ink that formed a heart, and then up the lines decorating either side of the heart which led him to a vibrating throat. He hummed back against the bottom corner of Law’s neck, pressing the rest of his body roughly against the other’s. 

Without warning he bit down causing Law to inhale sharply. He released his teeth, and licked the area a few times which earned him a hungry growl in return. Before he could figure out what had happened Law was on top of him. His eyes glazed over in lust. Their bodies knew it had been too long and it showed with their increased desperation to consume each other.

Law made a short sound of amusement, as he enjoyed his view. The observation made him feel vulnerable in a way he couldn’t really comprehend. The control Law had previously been using to make things boring, like by not being loud, must have left in that moment. With animalistic force he was pinned into the seat by hands that had suddenly appeared on either side of his shoulders; paired with soft caressing of Law’s tongue on his lips he was physically confused. 

Laws hands were leaving bruises where they continued to restrained, yet his tongue treated the bewildered mouth delicately, slowly coaxing it open. It wasn’t asking for permission, but rather taking its time to savor all of the other. It was too much, he couldn’t think straight. Eyes closed, his mouth opened with a small moan. 

Luffy could feel his entire body flush as Law slipped his tongue past the lips that were glistening in the light of the nearby fire. He ghosted the muscle over the other’s. “A-ah.” He could hear himself saying. He tried moving himself forward to deepen the kiss, but Law kept pulling just out of reach, until Luffy was fighting against the arms holding him down. “No fair.” He moaned, now understanding why Law had bothered doing this in the first place. “You’re too meteorological.”

Law tittered, pulling completely away from the squirming frame. “Methodological?” Half his mouth quirked up smugly. Bastard. 

Luffy continued with his attempts at lifting himself from Law’s grip, but he knew there were shenanigans going on. “Yeah, it means, like, you take too long to do everything. Don’t they teach surgeons that?” He huffed realizing a room was being used to keep him in place. If he made an actual effort he knew he’d break something and that would suck but so did being bossed around. “Why are you such a cheater!” He whined, body still demanding the previous closeness he was unable to take back.

Law teasingly clicked his teeth. “Still so bratty.” He said, lightly brushing their lips together. Luffy tried leaning into it, but he could move no further forward. Law leaned away again, sucking in air and biting his bottom lip. Luffy writhed wanting to shove his mouth against the one across from him.

“I’d be doing way more stuff if I got to be in charge. You’re doing, like, two things. That means in math I should be the one on top! So that I can actually do something! I don’t want to just lay here! It’s not fair. It’s boring actually! You’re taking all the turns.” The more he spoke the more aroused he felt Law get. He thought hopefully that meant he was winning the argument and would be released so he looked up expectantly.

“I guess you should have thought about that before getting pinned down.” Law said in mock pity, an impish grin revealed teeth, “If you think about it, I actually deserve the most turns.” He used all of his body weight to grind against a yelping Luffy.

“I-uh-y… you.” Luffy incoherently attempted to argue, but he couldn’t see straight and had to focus on not crossing his eyes. “You do not!” He sputtered as the overpowering sensation dulled enough for him to think again.

“Oh, but I do.” He said, matter-of-factly. Biting his way down the trembling chest.

“You don’t have proof.” He panted through small gasps.“You’re being a fascist again!” He said thinking Sabo’s word might work again so he could go back to doing what he wanted to Law.

Law pressed his lips against Luffy’s, ignoring what was being said. That proved to be a mistake as the mouth once open to be explored turned into a fortress. “Aw, you won’t open up.” He said deeply. 

Luffy knew keeping his mouth shut was now one of the few forms of leverage he had. He glared while shaking his head no. Law removed his hands and Luffy’s face lit up, until he realized he still couldn’t move. His face twisted in confusion. If he continued yelling at Law he’d lose the battle over his mouth, but if he said nothing he wouldn’t get anywhere either. 

His thoughts vanished as his member was being loosely held in Law’s hand before more pressure was slowly applied. He involuntarily opened his mouth to pant out a moan and could hear Law make some stupid sound like he won or something. He didn’t win, he just cheated. The hand started moving slowly along the shaft creating an overwhelming need to ram himself in and out of it as fast as he could, but Law wouldn’t let him move. 

Tears welled up in his eyes, he couldn’t control the moans that forced his mouth fully opened. He clenched his jaw. “Can’t you go faster?” The pace was agonizing, he squeezed one eye shut, as the other squinted into a slit. “P-please.” He stuttered out, he hadn’t meant to say this, but he wasn’t really in a position to do what he meant to anyway.

“Please what?” Law teased, increasing his grip and moving his hand slower. He was enjoying the view of the over-stimulated brat.

“Nng.” He choked out, swallowing hard. “Hurry up.” He said unsteadily, through heavy breaths. Both his eyes were tightly shut as he stretched the rest of his face in unflattering positions, as if it could help distract from the torturous hand.

“You really want me to?” Law said, almost sweetly.

“Do it!” Luffy yelled.

“Well … Okay … If you really want me to.” He said and then kissed Luffy’s forehead.

“Fi-NGH.” Law moved his hand impossibly fast. Luffy yelled as he unexpectedly climaxed. His body was so sensitive even movement in the air made him twitch. He laid there trying to catch his breath to no avail.

“That’s what you wanted right?” Law said huskily into Luffy’s ear while one of his hands rubbed the spent fluid over his stomach. Law kissed Luffy’s neck softly, almost lovingly, that wasn’t going to fool anyone!

“No!” Luffy roared, hoping it hurt Law’s ears.

“No?” Law whispered into Luffy’s neck, “I was just doing what you asked? How can you blame me for your poor directions?” He said, feigning hurt feelings. “I guess I’ll just have to try again. I bet I’ll get it right this time, for sure.” 

And like that Luffy was hard again, he groaned. “You’re a stasis.”

“A stasis, huh?” He asked humorously. 

“Yeah, it means you don’t play fair and get to do everything and you don’t even listen to me and you’re mean.” Luffy explained loudly, finally caught up to his breath. He struggled again, still unable to move.“I came, isn’t it my turn to play with you now?” He huffed.

“Hmmmm …” Law said, as if in deep thought. “I think it’s still my turn.”


	5. Picking up the Past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will edit as future chapters are posted.

“Wait, Law, something bad is about to happen.” Luffy said, pushing the older man off him to look out the car windows. It was dark, so there was nothing much to see despite the moon helping a little. If something was out there it would have to be within five feet of the car. 

After two and a half hours of pretty decent foreplay he had just gotten his pants off about to finish himself off. Things didn’t work out that easy though as Luffy was stopping him with his future predictions. He sighed, “Luffy you can just tell me you want to stop. You don’t have to make things up to stop me you know.” He was tired anyway, it wouldn’t matter to him if they just cuddled, it’s not like he was used to this. 

Luffy looked up at Law like he was a moron. “I’m right, you can even hear it, listen, shut up.” He said gruffly placing his hands over Law’s mouth, forgetting that they were still dirty from picking up wood and stuff for the fire that was now burnt out. 

Law quelled his annoyance and listened. Sure enough he was right, there was something out there. It was faint, but he could hear foliage being crushed by human feet. It was different from the way an animal would walk. He looked at the man holding his mouth closed to acknowledge he heard the same thing. Before Luffy could finish asking what they should do, a figure appeared near the car. Law wasn’t exactly ready to deal with anyone, even if they were friendly. In this case, they absolutely weren’t friendly. He conjured a room and moved them on a road ten miles out. That was really going to tank his energy.

“What the fuck.” Luffy said through an exhale, he was sweating and not from their previous activities.

“Did you see something?” Law asked knowing it was too dark and too quiet for him to have literally seen anything. It was possible Luffy actually could see the future, he wasn’t sure what to believe. I mean he guessed they did technically have powers most of the world would swear up and down didn’t exist. Still, wouldn’t he have heard of it, he wasn’t like most of the world. He relented acknowledging neither was Luffy.

“Just some giant.” He said, before looking to the side and correcting himself, “Well compared to me. Not a literal giant.”

Law relaxed against Luffy’s chest comforted by it’s slow rising and falling. “Weird. We should get out of here then. I can move us pretty far, but it’ll take us way off course.”

“You should hurry.” Luffy said, eyes serious. He didn’t like the possibilities of the position they were in, geographically speaking, of course. He wasn’t thinking about how Law was going to fuck him and some shadowy anti-fuck stopped them. Bullshit.

Law moved himself to the seat with his room, pulling his clothes back on. “You should get dressed too, it’s cold.” He said back to Luffy. He didn’t feel disappointed about stopping anymore, the smaller man had been honest. This meant he’d still have his chance and hadn’t messed anything up. He wasn’t sure why he was so paranoid about being lied to by Luffy of all people. The little guy couldn’t lie at all. He started the car. He’d rather move them into an area before the car was on, rather than wait and see what happens afterwards.

Luffy hummed in response as the car started to move. “Maybe I’ll sleep back here, kinda tired.” He yawned out. “I mean, you kinda were unrelenting. I may regenerate fast, but not that fast!” He grabbed one of Law’s pillows from the floor of the car and held it. The plush object hand’t been owned long and hardly smelled like the man driving. His lips curved in disappointment, they definitely weren’t going to be sleeping together tonight. Law technically didn’t need sleep, being from a snowy climate and all, Luffy always forgot where the surgeon came from.

Law bit back a smirk, not because he wanted to hide his emotions, but because Luffy was too fucking cute. “Sorry about that.” He said, trying to sound genuine, but he wasn’t. It had been a great night even if he didn’t finish he got more than he could hope for. Before, he wouldn’t even let himself secretly dream of getting back together with Luffy and now here they were just stopped from going all the way.

“You are not you liar!” Luffy yelled through the pillow, not caring if Law could understand him or not. Understanding him was a privilege only given to non-liars and the lucky. He was too tired to move his head anywhere else and felt sleep hit him instantly.

Law laughed, “You’re right, I’m not.” Snores alerted him to the fact that the man in the back didn’t hear him, he shook his head still happy they were together at all. He took them as far off course as he could even though it was going to set him back, he couldn’t risk anything by not taking this suspicious figure seriously.

__

Luffy woke up with his face on the floor, press at an inhuman angle into Law’s pillow. He wiped the crust of drool off the side of his face not wanting to open his eyes. It was too bright already and he wanted to go back to sleep. There was no point in being awake in a car with no breakfast. He had half a mind to sleep until the practically emaciated driver got food. They hadn’t even eaten dinner and Luffy was so hungry. His stomach groaned loudly he could feel it eating away at itself. Going without food was always hard, at least on the ocean there were always fish to eat. “Food.” He said miserably.

“We shouldn’t stop right now.” Law said, surprised he was even able to hear the barely conscious man on the floor of his car. They needed more time before his plan could be carried out, if this wasn’t a false alarm it would be easy for the trouble he was worried about to catch up.

“I’m dyinggggg.” Luffy said drawing the word out as long and loud as he could. “I can find something really quick, I dont even need to heat it up probably. I’ll just eat it. It’s fine. My body can candle it. I do it all the time. Just anywhere.” His stomach made a high pitched cry for help as he lifted his head up to stare at the back of Law’s head.

“There’s no way that can be good for you.” Law said, absently. Luffy’s stomach was the least of his worries, they could get food at any time.

“Can’t you use a room and steal food from around?” Luffy asked not actually sure of the answer. He couldn’t see why this wouldn’t be the case? Law could replace the food with air in the car, it was fine. If Law said he couldn’t he was probably being dishonest!

“I could, but I’m low on stamina and want to preserve it for emergencies.” Law said. The roads were unpaved death traps with no one around for miles. A hitchhiker appeared as the car made its way over a hill. 

“Law! Hitchhiker!” Luffy said with diamonds in his eyes. Meeting new people was the most exciting thing in life next to meat and maybe Law. The order didn’t matter!

“Yeah?” Law asked, unsure where Luffy was going with this. His whims were unpredictable it was what drew Law to him in the first place.

“Pick them up!” Luffy demanded, appearing suddenly in the passenger seat and opening the door. Law had once threatened to put a child lock on it, but Luffy knew he was too scared to, not wanting to lose his door. “Hey!!!” He called out excitedly, grabbing the hitch hiker before Law could do something dumb like transport the car. Law was like that! It wasn’t a stretch to suspect him of it! 

Law watched helplessly as between split seconds the population of his car increased to three. A man with unsightly day glow green hair and hideous clothing sprawled on top of his boyfriend’s lap. He unconsciously glared, it didn’t matter, but he didn’t like this dude. “Luffy!” He yelled punching the man while summoning a room to set everything in proper order. With his room he moved Luffy to the backseat, buckling him up, and keeping the punk in the passenger seat. He could buckle himself up. He looked capable. “Don’t do shit like that without asking! We’re both here aren’t we?”

“Well I didn’t care what you thought about it.” Luffy said casually not thinking anything was particularly wrong with that. Law hated strangers, but Luffy could tell this guy was cool. He wanted to help him out. 

Law rolled his eyes towards the newcomer. “Welcome.” He said flatly, eyes telling the man all he needed to know on his opinion of the rooster haired buzzkill. He wouldn’t get to have any important conversations with Luffy or car sex with this asshole in the car. He paused for a second reconsidering, Luffy didn’t usually shy from public displays of physical affection. In the past there was so much weird shit the strawhatter was alright with even Law had to set boundaries and he didn’t think he would lose that game of chicken to anyone.

Bartolomeo didn’t have a brain with the power to process the speed at which he was yanked into a car. He was lucky whatever pulled him in wrapped around him enough to prevent his spine from snapping at the speed he was moved. Snapping spines probably sucked. No one thinks a snapped spine is cool. He’d have to hide the duration of his recovery. People were talking, he turned to his side, and rubbed his eyes. They were wrong. Trafalgar Law did not just pick him up while he was hitchhiking. So he had drank too much and lost all of his money and personal effects in a fight he started that didn’t mean he was hallucinating. Was he? “Law?” He asked.

“Uh … Yeah.” Law said. Did he have a name tag on? Occasionally he’d forget he didn’t have work and just pin it to his chest without thinking. He had been retired for too long, already acting like a regular person. He tried to glance down at his chest to make sure there wasn’t a name tag on. He wasn’t going to look like an idiot that wore name tags on accident. The eyesore was staring at him a little too closely, he was afraid he’d be caught looking at his shirt.

“Hey!” Luffy said behind them both. “Why am I in the backseat? This isn’t fair, I was here first. Just because I slept here doesn’t mean I want to stay here. You don’t spend your daytime in bed? It doesn’t make sense Traf!” He silenced himself to grin with all his teeth showing at the hitch hiker. “Hi!” He abruptly lost interest in everything he was saying. This was more interesting. “Are those donuts?” He asked.

“HERE!” Bartolomeo said faster and louder than he was meaning to, forgetting there was even a box in his hands. He thought he had lost his chance at reconnecting with the man obsessed with his strawhat all on account of that tattooed asshole being in the way. He runs off and then swoops in whenever he wants. Bartolomeo knew himself to be far more dependable than that. He shoved the box at Luffy. He would give his life to this guy, so what’s a couple donuts?

“Thanks!” Luffy said, unquestioningly taking the box from the man and opening it. This was going to be good, some of these had bacon on them. What a fucking concept. He never would have thought to put bacon on a pastry like this, guess that’s why he’s not the cook. He stuck to more simple recipes … Like take one part animal and one part fire, combine and enjoy. That one worked every time. He shoved the glazed bread into his mouth before anyone could change their mind about their poor decisions, like giving away something this good. Fuck, he had been so hungry.

“Sure! Anything!” Bartolomeo said, still a bit starstruck. He would always feel indebted to this guy, his whole life was alright thanks to him. If he let reality hit right now he would pass out. No one had heard anything from Luffy, and here he was. The man that made anything possible. He stared at hi dreamily, as if he were a painting or a statue and not a human that could feel the weight of the gaze.

“Why are you here?” Law said forgetting to ask who the guy was too distracted by how this freak was staring at his boyfriend. His blood was a little heated, but it wasn’t like this guy didn’t deserve it. Everything about him was obnoxious, he existed to cause trouble, no doubt about it. No. He didn’t care, why should he care. He cleared his throat, “And who are you?” He tried to say politely.

Bartolomeo couldn’t pull himself from Luffy’s eyes, they were the essence of all life. He felt warmed, in the man’s presence, even if he had been outside for hours in the winter convinced he would die. That’s what he got for losing a fight to a bunch of pissed off hicks. They could take him out to the country, but they wouldn’t keep him here. Blood rushed to his head fast, and he fainted.

“You scared him!” Luffy yelled in Law’s direction, shaking the unconscious man. Law really liked to intimidate people, he would probably never verbally admit it, but he didn’t need to. His body language said it all! He looked proud of himself, even though this random guy knew his name and fainted. What’s there to even be proud of. “Idiot!” He hit Law with a hand, while continuing to shake the other guy. “Don’t die on me!”

“He’s not going to die.” Law spat. He just asked a perfectly reasonable question. “He was looking and talking to you when he passed out. I bet you scared him when you asked for that box of donuts. Maybe you should be more considerate!” He wasn’t even jealous, why would he scare this guy. It didn’t even matter. They were just going to drop him off and carry on their way. This was just a footnote.

Luffy gasped, “I did not scare him by asking for donuts!” He stuck another donut in his mouth before hitting the liar in the shoulder again. This man’s donuts wouldn’t go to waste even if he died. He forgot to move his fist from Law’s shoulder when he threw the punch. It was nice touching him. 

“Then explain why he passed out as soon as he handed them over to you?” Law asked. It was perfectly reasonable for someone to pass out after being manhandled and swindled by Luffy in under a minute. The hand pressed to his shoulder melted the cold he didn’t even know he felt. He wasn’t really happy about someone new here, however Luffy was never wrong about people … Perhaps more proof of he was clairvoyant.

“I already said you scared him, duh.” Luffy said, leaning into the backseat of the car, placing the box of donuts in a more appropriate spot on his lap. He was going to eat all of these and then Law would be forced to stop somewhere to get more food, because there won't be any in here. It would work out perfect.

Law chuckled looking back on the road through eyes that ached. It was never a good sign when he could feel pain pulsating through them. Resting them would be a good idea, but he didn’t trust this new guy or Luffy to keep everything safe. “Alright.” He said smiling.

“The donuts are gone so we have to pull over somewhere.” Luffy said, ignoring whatever Law was agreeing to. It didn’t matter when they could starve to death right now if they don’t get food. 

“Nothing is going to stop this car.” Law said. Luffy could try all he wanted, but they had deadlines to meet. He had taken them a little out of their way, but all that meant was they’d do some tasks in different orders. Stopping somewhere on top of this would be a poor execution of the plan. 

The older man glance at him through the rearview window briefly joining their eyes, Luffy smiled, before he was jerked forward. Something sounding like a cannonball went off and they were stopped suddenly. “What happened?” He said, coughing through the smell of burning cancer.

Law’s face fell slack, “We’re stopped.” he said flatly. Only Luffy could make bizarre and impossible things happen regularly. He had recently checked this car there was no reason for it to have stopped. He lifted and set his hands on the steering wheel a couple times, not wanting to slam them.

Luffy laughed and ran out of the car. Law could deal with that and he’d find food. Today was off to a great start. He could hear Law yelling before he shot himself deep into a wooded area, that could wait. He knew there was a big cat thing nearby, taking it out would give him 1/3rd of a dinner. As he pounced on the thing he smelled smoke, but saw no evidence of a fire. Weird.

“So fucking reckless.” Law said under his breath, getting out of the car to look at the damage. He scowled at the car, he was expected to just fix this, typical. Damn him, Law was a doctor, not a mechanic. Still he did know the basics. He summoned a room and opened the hood of the car with it. He would have been strained using the room if he complied with that assholes request for him to get food. Well, look what came in handy. His features softened, if only marginally, happy about being right. 

Everything was a mess, which didn’t make any sense. He never would have started driving if he thought the car was unstable, he would have moved them somewhere else. Which he could do right now, if Luffy hadn’t bolted off. Now they were both stuck here, because Law had to wait for Luffy to do something that didn’t need to be done. He rubbed his eyes and sat back in the car to wait for the engine to cool off enough for him to stand near it.

A while passed, Luffy was still gone, probably got sucked into doing something stupid … Something stupid that was probably fun. He glared down at his seat knowing he’d probably never get to do whatever fun stupid thing it was, because he had standards to uphold. Luffy would just get all of the fun, look like an idiot, and no one would care, which is exactly why everyone likes him. The sound of tires scraping against the road made Law glance quickly to see a car stopped with its driver’s door opening.

“No fucking shit, death boy, what’s up?” Eustace said unsure if he was angry or nostalgic at this sudden appearance. He was doing a job asked of him, if he got fucking set up and this was the trap he wasn’t going to leave anyone alive. Law looked exhausted, typical. How many years had it been since they last saw each other? 2? 4? It wasn’t long enough. No one else could fuck with his head more than this prick.

“Oh, hi, Kidd.” Law tried to sound happy, Eustace was a power holding mechanic and his car was fucked. Wishful thinking. Every single interaction he had with this guy had been an empty pit where a better choice should have been made. They only ever got along when they drank … well, saying they ever got along was a slight overstatement, but it needed to be true right now. He tried to remember if he had alcohol in the car, Kidd didn’t do favors. He conjured a room and moved a bottle of cheap whiskey from the trunk to his hand. “Whiskey?” He offered to the redhead towering over him, genuinely blocking out the sun. If that wasn’t a good metaphor to leave soon he didn’t know what was. If Luffy would fucking hurry up. He summoned a larger room to look for the easily distracted idiot.

Kidd took the whiskey wondering if it was poisoned. “Look who got fucked in the middle of nowhere.” He said, unscrewing the lid on the bottle taking his chances with its questionable safety. Law was looking at him like he wanted something. Kidd looked at the parked car with its hood up and back at the man who never slept. “No.” He said flipping the bird and chugging the gifted alcohol.

“I didn’t say anything.” Law said innocently. Whether Kidd helped or not was up to the fates and not whatever bullshit lie he could come up with on the fly. Eustace was always in some shady business at ends with Law’s goals, he wasn’t to be trusted. All he needed to do was wait for Luffy and move them again, Kidd helping didn’t matter. He did not feel like getting in a fight.

Kidd raised an eye and smirked down at his ex in the fucked up car, his face was unreadable, as always. He never showed emotions that weren’t creepily controlled like some fucked up android that strawbitch hung around, but sexed up … a fuckbot. 

Death boy must have had important reasons to be stuck in this shithole, Kidd tried to figure out which reasons were most plausible. His uncle’s out of prison, but nowhere near here. Kid knew where the man was, he had just been ordered by the feathered freak to supervise the clearing of this piece of shit landscape. A lot of money went in to getting the leader of this country to level this wilderness, he wasn’t going to miss out on lucrative business, because some short asshole wanted to assassinate him over uncle issues. Exactly like daddy issues but weirder. 

He walked closer to look more intimidating, Trafalgar wasn’t going to do shit to him. “I could help you … for a price.” He said, casually slamming his palm against the roof of the car. 

“Don’t trouble yourself.” Law said, unmoving. The palm hitting the car didn’t even break his concentrating on finding Luffy. Kidd was an annoyance, not an issue. If it came down to it Law would win. “I’ll be fine.” He said.

“Sure, princess.” Kidd snorted unattractively, throwing the empty bottle onto the ground. Trace shards were thrown on top of his shoes. “If you do me a favor my help could be yours.” He flirted, Law had been fucked up over Luffy’s shit for years, if he could use that emotional trauma to his advantage he might be able to figure out what death boy is up to.

“Sorry, just lost all my excess favors to the bank. I’m in favor debt now. I’m trying to increase my favor deficit and get a loan, but you know how those approval processes go.” If he just kept saying dumb shit, Kidd might give up and leave. His hand twitched in frustration with everything happening. A good fight sounded good, but he needed to keep his head down. 

Kidd moved his face down to Law’s brushing their faces together, “I could speed up the process.” He said pretending not to notice his current actions. This sort of shit always fucked with Law’s head in the past. The dude had textbook ptsd, even if he looked put together. “If you want.” He whispered into Law’s ear, but was suddenly back in his car. That asshole. Eustace punched the carseat and flipped Law off. “Good riddance.” He yelled speeding off down the road. He didn’t need to waste his time with the past.

“Why didn’t I do that in the first place?” Law mumbled to himself, turning back to the wheel. 

“Don’t ask me.” Bartolomeo said earning a glare from Law. He was just answering the question. Why was Law even asking him? That train of thought wasn’t going to get him anywhere, so he shifted to the more important question, “Why are we stopped? Where’s Luffy?”

How long had this idiot been watching his interaction with Kidd. He was smart to keep his mouth shut. “Car troubles. Luffy went to get food.” As if telling this guy would fix anything. It didn’t matter if he knew or not, he was a fucking waste of space getting a free ride.

“I’m good with cars, I’ll go look.” Bartolomeo was relieved that was all. If something happened to Luffy, he’d be devastated. He opened the passenger’s door not bothering to close it as he was too busy taking note of the signs of tampering. It wouldn’t be a difficult fix if it didn’t look like it could blow up the car right now. He waved his hand beckoning Law to come over for 2 minutes and realized Law couldn’t see him through the hood of the car. “Law, I need your help.” If he could just get the guy open a room and move this thing somewhere far away then the car would be fine.

__

“What is it?” Law asked Bartolomeo who was holding the thing he had just extracted from his car that hadn’t been there yesterday. The only time someone would have had a chance to put anything under the hood was when he and Luffy were fucking around, but they would have noticed the hood of the car opening without being popped from inside of the car. That didn’t make sense. There wasn’t a single moment this could have happened. This sort of shit had his uncle’s name written all over it, but how did he know where they were? How does he know where to keep looking. Law must have looked intimidating, because the punk was inching backwards.

“Well, you really want to know what I know?” Bartolomeo said heavily, not wanting to look at the guy in the eyes–they weren’t right. What did Luffy ever see in him anyway? The sex was probably weird, Luffy always liked weird shit, look at his crew. Weird was good! Luffy’s crew is perfect! But Law was weird. All doctors are closet perverts, Law isn’t special.

“That’s why I asked.” Law said, trying to find anything to link this object to his uncle. He had move the char that had obstructed physical details, and still it didn’t really look like anything. He didn’t know if he should break it or not.

“I’m just going to tell it to you straight.” Bartolomeo said before stopping and waiting again. 

“Any time now.” Law said, voice unchanging. He knew of one person that would be able to help them with this, but she worked for the Revolutionary Army and was probably already busy with his uncle’s actions. It could be tracking them, but it didn’t look like any tracker he had ever seen.

“Hey!” Luffy had slightly miscalculated his landing spot and nearly tripped. “Is it fixed?” He asked, looking at the car now with its hood down. Seemed fine to him. He opened the car door and sat in the back. This really wasn’t fair, he didn’t want to sit in the backseat. If he had known the hitch hiker would take his spot he wouldn’t have asked for his donuts he would have taken them.

“Luffy!” Bartolomeo was startled into slamming the top of his head against the roof of the car. It made him happy seeing Luffy back in good health. How had he gotten lucky enough to see his idol again on what would have been the 13th worst day of his life.

Law hated this guy, he wanted one question answered and it was taking years. “What is this.” He spoke over the hitch hiker. Who only waved his hand in dismissal at him.

“Rooster guy!” Luffy exclaimed, before noticing a cool thing in Law’s hands. “Cool, what's that thing?” He asked, really wanting to touch it, whatever it was. Law seemed to be unhappy with it.

“I have no idea.” Bartolomeo said, before a fist was slammed into his head. “Hey …” He said defensively. There Law was, proving how bad of a person he is. Can’t trust that guy at all.

“You didn’t even know?” Law yelled, before rubbing the temples of his head. He took a deep breath to calm down, resisting the urge to slam his fist into the man’s head again. Okay, so no one knows anything about this object and the only person I know who can help is at my end destination. He was now too tired to summon a room or drive. “I give up. I need to relax.”

Luffy groaned, he was hungry and this meant they’d be stuck here even longer. He had barely eaten anything today, 16 donuts didn’t begin to cut it. Where did rooster guy get those anyway. “Hey, rooster guy, can you drive?” He asked.

“Yes! I can drive. I’ve driven a long time. Do you need me to drive? I’ll drive if you want me to. Where do you want me to take you?” There was nothing better than being called by a nickname by his favorite person on the planet as well as being useful to said person.

“Cool, you should go to that donut place.” Luffy said, pushing Law to get out of the driver’s seat. He was the one always saying they were on a tight schedule anyway, yet here they were sitting around doing nothing. It really sent a mixed message.

“Donut … Place?” Bartolomeo thought for a minute getting performance anxiety from the eyes staring at him. “Oh, I found those on the ground as I was walking down the road.” A fist pounded into his head from outside of the now open passenger’s door. He wouldn’t be treated like this if it was just he and Luffy, they didn’t even need this guy. He got up, shoving himself harder than he needed against the shrimp.

“You just let the person that took you in eat sketchy donuts you found on the ground in the middle of the fucking forest? What the fuck.” Law’s face was red, he hadn’t been this frustrated since … before … “And you!” He seethed, pointing his finger at Luffy, “You left to get food and then come back with nothing? What was the point of you leaving.” 

“Forgot.” Luffy said with a shrug, it didn’t really matter. He wasn’t hungry anymore, there was too much excitement. It was nice Traf cared that he was hungry. Bartolomeo had started driving already.

Law threw up his hands, turning his head away from his idiot boyfriend. They slid back into their old habits fast, huh. “Of course.” He spat, clenching his fist. “Of course you did. Why wouldn’t you?” Trips alone weren’t this stressful.

“I know a place we can stay the night nearby.” Bartolomeo, interrupted the surgeon, speaking directly to Luffy. That guy wasn’t afraid of anything, here the surgeon of death was yelling at him and he was smiling as if being romanced.

“Yeah! Let’s do it.” Luffy said, leaning over to snap Law’s buckle over him. Safety first. Law looked like he was going to keep yelling, so Luffy gave him a peck on the lips.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will edit as future chapters are posted.

It was warm and Luffy was partially spread out. The padding under his body was soft, something much appreciated, yet frequently taken for granted. He could feel the rise and fall of Law’s chest under his hand. 

He liked touching Law, just to know he was there, he was real. He had spent a long time sleeping alone, mostly in total wilderness. It always felt like something was missing, but he could never put his finger on it. Now he knew. It was Law. 

He sighed happily, there was no moment he’d rather experience over this one. He absentmindedly traced the tattoos on Law’s chest with his fingers. Law’s skin was soft, not like his own. Luffy’s body was hard, rough. He’d never thought much about it until now. 

“Mm?” Law opened his eyes and looked down at the hands on his chest, following the dark curves. He could feel heat pulsing through him. Such innocent affection shouldn’t have gotten him pent up, but here he was. 

He looked into Luffy’s eyes, asking permission. He looked confused for a moment but then returned the gaze with an impish grin. Law didn’t need help to understand what that meant. 

Wordlessly, he yanked Luffy’s arms around him, heavily rolling himself atop the smaller male, who was now panting, excited. “Do you like when I’m rough with you?” He smirked. 

Luffy blushed a deep shade of red, “yyea.” He moaned through slightly parted lips, shutting his eyes in embarrassment. Law looked too smug. 

Cute, so cute. Luffy’s eyes were squeezed tight, tongue poking out slightly. It was too tempting, he hungrily kissed at the warm lips. He bit Luffy’s bottom lip, pulling it up with him as he broke the kiss. “Such an interesting body.” 

Luffy glared as his lip recoiled back into place, before he could voice a complaint Law grabbed his tongue and pulled it out of his mouth. “HHHHNNN!!” He tried making any sound to let Law know ... in vain. 

Law ignored the protesting, pulling the tongue out further, past where it would have stopped normally. He lightly drew circles on Luffy’s tongue with his own. 

“HH.. hh aaaa...” This was weird. Why did it make him feel ... good? Law stopped, letting go. “Ack. Do you have to do things so weird?”

“Yes.” Law said deeply. “It’s a chronic condition.” He kissed Luffy again, before getting up. “We probably shouldn’t overstay our welcome. This ‘friend’ of Bartolomeo’s didn’t seem very happy to see us.” He couldn’t help but feel proud at making Luffy look so debauched.

“Law, you pervert!” Luffy yelled, after finally catching his breath. He stomped out of the bed, shoving Law as he left the room. 

Law bit his lip, smirking as he stared at Luffy’s ass walking away. When the time’s right they were going to have a lot of fun. 

Slipping out the front door anger spilled out of him. “He fucked us over. I knew he would, you can’t trust guys like that.” 

“Erm ... Law?” Luffy pointed around the corner. 

Law walked over to see what Luffy was pointing out. More bad news? Probably, he thought bitterly. 

Bartolomeo glared at the short tattooed loser. Here he was getting accused of being a traitor while washing this ingrate’s car, which was disgusting, covered in bugs and dirt. “You’re welcome.”

Law said nothing. Even if he was wrong now he’d probably be right later. 

Luffy laughed through a toothy grin. “Thanks rooster guy!” He ran to the front passenger’s seat, he wasn’t gonna get stuck in the back again! Locked. He pouted. Not moving from this spot until I’m in this seat! 

“So what are you guys” Bartolomeo lowered his voice despite no one else being around “really doing here?” 

“I’m not telling you anything” Law walked to the drivers door, signature scowl on face. 

“Come on, we worked together before. You know I’m trustworthy.” Bartolomeo wasn’t about to give up on helping Luffy with whatever it was he needed. Law was basically making Luffy’s life more difficult. 

Luffy’s eyes lit up, and he jumped in place a few times, “Did I?”

Law cut Bartolomeo off before he could answer, “I barely remember you. I’m not about to trust you. You shouldn’t even be with us. We helped you and now you’re trying to burden us more.” Law realized no one was listening.

“And that’s why we’re here!” Luffy basically cheered the sentence. “Do you wanna’ help!” He was smiling expectantly at Bartolomeo in a way that made Law furious. 

“I want to help!” Bartolomeo was also bouncing on the heels of his toes, this was one of the greatest moments of his life. 

“Luffy!” Law didn’t raise his voice, but the malice could be heard loud and clear. “You can’t be making decisions like this without me. You need to ask before you invite strangers on things as important as this.” 

Luffy shrugged, “I already knew I’d get you to agree so I didn’t bother wasting the time.” The nonchalance in his voice managed to turn Law red. Luffy tried suppressing a grin, failed, and ended up laughing instead. “You should really see yourself, you’re basically a tomato!” He turned back to Bartolomeo, “He does, right?” 

“Enough. Since you’ve already made the decision then I guess that’s what we’re going to do.” He couldn’t hide the anger in his voice, even if he wanted to. 

“So if you need help finding Koala I think I can help.” Bartolomeo was proud, and it showed in his posture and unapologetically smug expression directed at Law. 

“Oh? How, how, how, how?” Luffy had forgotten entirely that he wanted to stay by the passenger door, because he was now hanging off of the tall man, too excited to remember any of the other things. This was another person from his past he’d forgotten.

“Well,” Bartolomeo was blushing at the lack of concern for personal space Luffy was showing. “I’m part of the mob. I know a guy who knows someone that can help. He’s got people with strong ties to the revolutionary army. I think he’d know what to do.” He rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed by how awed the shorter man looked.

“COOOOOOOL. SO COOL! You’re in the MOB!!!?” Luffy was yelling, it was the only way to get across how great he thought this all was. “WE GOTTA’ GO!” 

It was a command and Law knew it. “I really think my contact is better suited for the job.” He was trying to sound like he had any authority over the way this was going. Luffy was going to make them rely on degenerates, it was unavoidable. 

“Blah blah blah. This is WAYYYY cooler, plus you don’t even know where your contact is!!!” Luffy was back in front of the door, pulling at the handle, staring at Law asking him with his eyes to unlock the damn thing.

Law let out a very deep sigh. “Ok. Where are we going.” His voice was flat. He knew this was coming, it was just so annoying every single time. Luffy ruined every plan ever made ... yeah it usually worked, but still it’s reckless. 

“Well ... It’s kind of a moving target, you should just let me drive. I know where to go.” Bartolomeo would definitely make sure straw hat got what he needed! 

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You drive! Let's go!” The car was finally unlocked. Luffy flung the door open and planted himself in the passenger’s seat. It was way better for seeing everything than the stupid backseat. He didn’t want to get stuck back there again. It was soooo boring. 

Law closed his eyes, counting backwards from ten a few times. “Here.” He said bitterly, handing the green-haired freak the keys. Looks like he was getting the backseat. 

His legs were crushed and Bartolomeo was to Law’s misery, endlessly asking Luffy questions. Luffy, unable to stop himself from answering them was probably just as trapped as Law was. 

“Alright, now heres where it gets a little weird ...” Bartolomeo crossed his fingers and a green barrier appeared heading upwards, they weren’t about to go around the mountains. 

“AWESOME!” Luffy yelled, rolling down the car window to stick his head out. “WOAHHH, WHAT IS THIS?” The higher they got the more Luffy wanted to look. He was so glad he got the front seat. 

“It’s a barrier, unbreakable, we’ll be safe. It’s the only way I know how to find my contact.” 

“SOOOO COOL. IT’S LIKE WE’RE FLYING.” Yelling out the window was an awful lot of fun when you were far above the ground. 

“Tch.” Law rolled his eyes, refusing to look outside. He wasn’t even going to humor that guy. 

Bartolomeo glared back at Law through the rearview window. What did Luffy see in this guy? 

Law widened his eyes in an intimidating way causing day-glow green to turn back to the ‘road’ 

After a long and cramped ride they came up on a giant archway that led into an even bigger room, which felt like it manifested out of thin air. 

“Isn’t this parking garage cool?” Bartolomeo asked Luffy, still trying to pretend Law didn’t exist. Everything would be perfect if that tattooed creep wasn’t around. Who does he think he’s trying to impress? 

“PARKING GARAGE??!” Luffy stuck his head out the window trying to take in the giant room they were now driving through. It didn’t even look like it was possible for human’s to build. 

Law was so glad to be out of the car. His legs didn’t appreciate being cooped up that long. Where ever rooster fucker took them, it better not kill them. 

“Luffy?” A stout man in an expensive suit with a cigar stared at the fisherman in the straw hat, shock in his eyes. His cigar drooped in his equally surprised mouth. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh, you know me too!!?” Luffy’s eyes sparkled. “I didn’t know I knew so many cool people!” He laughed through his teeth, smiling wide. 

The man in the suit scratched the back of his head. “Yeah, tough break with what happened. Still, I owe my life to you, so whatever YOU” The man made sure everyone knew he was only addressing Luffy, “need I will help you with it.” 

“Thanks! Whatever your name is. We’re on a mission to—“ Luffy felt his mouth harshly covered, looking down he saw the letters d, e, a, t, h. “MMff.” Luffy decided the best course of action was to lick Law’s stupid hand. 

“Eughhh, Luffy.” Law didn’t move his hand, he wasn’t going to lose this battle. “Stop telling people plans before we know they’re safe!” He hissed into Luffy’s ear, before immediately feeling guilty, remembering the smaller man couldn’t stop himself from answering. The two other men in the room glared at him. 

“I forgot.” He mumbled to Luffy, removing his hand. 

“Huhhhh?” Luffy had no idea what Law forgot about. “Anyway we need to find someone from the revolutionary army! Can you help us? Rooster guy says you could!” 

“I know someone who can help you, but she wont be here for a while. You’re welcome to be my guests and make yourselves comfortable.” He smiled at Luffy, eyes squinting cheerfully. 

The man in the suit then turn to glare are Law and Bartolomeo. “I’m doing this for him. I don’t care for either of you.”

“I’m really that important to you? Even though I can’t remember you?” Luffy asked in awe. 

“I’d go very far to help you, straw hat; with or without your memory of me. I know you’re a good man.” The stout man said, ushering them all through a door. 

Luffy grinned again, showing his teeth, giggling to himself. “Thanks cigar guy. I don’t know your name...”

“Bege”

“Thanks, Bege!” Luffy skipped through the hall they were now in. Looking back at his two companions they appeared to both be miserable. Didn’t make sense this place was great! 

Eventually they were all settled in a very comfortable living room. Luffy took an entire couch to himself, finally able to stretch out. Law wished he could be on that couch with the man laying there, chest exposed, god he was fuckable. No, I need to remember to be stern with him agreeing to everything before asking me. 

Law shook his head to distract himself from the lewd thoughts finding their way into his mind. “Bege ... This is awfully close to Doflamingo’s current headquarters. Why are you here?” 

“I’ll be honest with you all, because I think we have similar goals. My syndicate is supplying the building materials for Doflamingo’s new factory. We’ve been working with the revolutionaries to sabotage him. We’ve been on the move putting out his fires that are burning the amazon.”

“How are you sabotaging him?” Law was skeptical, but this guy did have a clean track record with Luffy.

“We go to the source, the raw materials are tainted with inferior quality metals, powder to prevent concrete from drying and so on.” Bege looked annoyed by Law. 

“I want to help!” Luffy had an uncharacteristically serious look on his face. In Law’s opinion it made him look his age for once. 

Bege grinned, “I would expect nothing less from you, Straw Hat.”

After eating everything he could get his hands on Luffy ended up in the bedroom Bege had said he could use. He was so full he could barely move, so he flopped face first onto the bed. It smelled clean, maybe lavender? It was enough to make him doze off. 

“Luffy.” Law’s bitter voice woke him. 

“Mm?” He didn’t turn to look up at Law, he just wanted to go back to sleep.

“Luffy! We need to talk.”

Luffy shot one of his arms off in the direction of Law, dragging him into the bed faster than he could resist the action. “Sleep now; talk later.” 

Law grumbled, but didn’t refuse, relaxing next to the smaller man, maybe he would try to sleep.


	7. Distrust

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will edit as future chapters are posted.

Waking up didn’t do much for Law, after going to bed angry. “Why do you never ask me things before dragging us both into messes?” He was barely holding back from yelling. He forgot how inconsiderate his boyfriend was. It’s not like it’s that hard to include him in discussions that involved his future actions. He wanted something to take his frustration out on that didn’t involve hurting anyone.

“I’unno just forget, I guess.” Luffy’s speech was slurred. He was quickly becoming incapable of keeping himself from falling back asleep. Why was Law always so hung up on stuff that didn’t matter. It wasn’t like there were any better ideas. He thought there was a time table or something they needed to stick to. Was that no longer important? Maybe he should ask Law later. Currently he looked too angry to answer questions.

Law shut his mouth afraid of what might come out of it. He counted back from ten a few times. This wasn’t that big of a deal, he could deal with it civilly. “Well I don’t like when you do it.”

“Ok.” Luffy said, not really knowing what Law wanted him to do about it. It’s not like he could control Law’s mind or something. He wouldn’t even want a power like that. Gross. He needed more sleep.

“No. Not okay.” He said, raising his voice unintentionally. Luffy wasn’t even paying attention. He did this every time they had an important conversation—how could it not be on purpose? “You’re not even listening, are you?” He said sadness creeping through his voice.

“Yeah.” Luffy mumbled trying to appease Law. He wished he had the right words to say that would make the now pacing man happier, but none came to mind. It would probably be easier to physically show his concern. Touching was easier than coming up with the words to say. 

“Unbelievable.” Law said, scowling. Luffy wasn’t taking any of this seriously. It really was just like old times. Nothing went the way it was supposed to and he had to clean up all of the messes.

“C’mere.” Luffy said into the mattress, blindly sticking his hand behind him trying to reach for his boyfriend. “Pllllease.”

Law bit the inside of his bottom lip, he didn’t want to let it go, but obviously this would have to wait. Again. Like always.

Luffy wrapped his arms around the man that crawled next to him. He yawned into the chest he had been dying to smell. Breathing him in was comforting. “Don’t go.” He whispered hoping if he wasn’t annoying that Law wouldn’t move. It’d be nice to fall asleep like this, not that Law needed sleep. “It’s still early.”

“I’m just so angry.” Law finally admitted. He didn’t like being open about his emotions—wish people could just understand them, but it didn’t work that way; least with Luffy. Being direct was the only way to talk to his idiot boyfriend. “I’m angry at you. I’m angry at myself. I’m angry about Doflamingo. The longer I think about it all, the more upset I get.” He was repeatedly clenching his fists, wishing he could slam them into his problems; Luffy made it look easy.

The fisherman was silent for a while, trying to think of the right thing to say, knowing he would never find it. He bit the bullet, deciding to say anything, over nothing. “That’s why we’re doing something about it, right?” He put his hands on either side of Law’s face, trying to be soothing, Law just scowled.

“You’re not doing anything about how you treat me.” Law tried looking away, but Luffy’s eyes had their own sort of pull, making his soften. “Do you not respect me?” He wasn’t sure he wanted the answer, his stomach ate at itself as he braced himself for the worst. “Is it because I gave up fishing or because I left you?”

“Of course I respect you!” Luffy yelled. “More than anyone else!” He pulled at Law’s cheeks with both hands, trying to make his point. “You saved my life! And you’re so smart and always know what to do. I feel like I need you in my life. I’ll do anything to keep by you. Don’t say such crazy stuff.” He lightly rubbed his nose against the angry one. 

“I’m stupid. You don’t even know me anymore and I’m trying to act like everything is the same. It’s not the same.” He ripped his face out of Luffy’s hands to turn away—painfully hitting their noses together. He ignored it.

He didn’t need to be close to anyone. He didn’t need Luffy. He didn’t need to hope Luffy loved him; didn’t need love. He could go right back to working on his own and be fine. 

The silence from Luffy worried Law. He gathered the courage, he could find within himself, to face the smaller man. With his tongue, he could feel the holes he had created on the inside of his lip. 

Luffy’s eyes were red, holding back tears. Despite most of his bottom lip resting under his teeth, the frown stuck out. He wasn’t looking at anything. Not talking when upset was also new; Luffy rarely let himself get this worked up over their small fights … but then in the past Luffy had understood Law loved him; understood what that meant. Law wasn’t entirely convinced Luffy currently understood this.

“I’m sorry. It’s my fault, not yours.” There was still no change in Luffy’s expression. “You didn’t do anything wrong. Don’t listen to what I’ve said. It’s not what I meant.” He wanted to reach out and provide comfort, but wasn’t sure he should dare. He still didn’t know where the boundaries of their relationship was—all so messy.

“It is what you meant.” Luffy finally said, after several minutes of being quiet. He wiped his eyes before they actually started leaking. Law was uncomfortably difficult to understand. He really was trying his best, it was just an awful lot to take in.

“Luffy, no. I’m taking things out on you. It’s not right. It’s not how I feel.” He tried pulling the younger male towards him, but Luffy wouldn’t budge. He was no longer on the brink of tears—looked hollow. 

“I know I’m not the same person everyone remembers. I must have been way cooler the way people make it sound. I don’t know how to be that person anymore. I’m trying really hard.” His voice cracked, it couldn’t be helped. “I’ve been trying the whole time.” His eyes felt like they were going to start being annoying again making him angrily wipe at them before they tried doing anything. “I just can’t remember. And you know what the worst part is?”

“Hm?” Law said softly. Guilt reminded him he walked out on Luffy, not the other way around. It just felt like it was Luffy’s fault. He was always so careless … so dangerous. 

“No one will ever tell me any of the bad. They just go on and on about this really cool dude who could do no wrong and I know that can’t be true, but they just keep comparing me to that perfect person in their heads. All I have is what they say and I know I’ll never be that again, if I ever was to begin with.” It felt better telling Law this. He wanted to be happy and fun all the time for everyone, but sometimes it hurt. “I’m sorry for not asking you stuff; I have brain problems. If you really didn’t like something and told me I could change my mind.”

“In all honesty, Luffy, you really aren’t that much different from who you used to be.” He ran his hand across the man’s head, before stroking his thumb over the shell of the ear hidden beneath the waves of dark hair. “I was mad because you always used to decide things without asking anyone. The only thing that’s entirely new is seeing you get embarrassed.” He pushed the hair covering his boyfriends forehead to the side, pressing his lips against the newly revealed spot. He knew Luffy understood physical affection better than words. Why was it so difficult for Law to make himself remember that Luffy lost a lot too?

“I …” Luffy was having trouble putting his feelings into words, it would be so much easier if there was a magic translator that would do it for him. “I can’t help it.” He twisted his fingers in his hands. “You’re a doctor, I don’t know how to explain that I can’t control a lot of the stuff I say.” He knew it sounded like he was trying to avoid responsibility, but that wasn’t the case. He really couldn’t control it. Everyone thought it was just some cute gimmick, but it made friendships … relationships … difficult. He didn’t want to hate himself, but he hated this.

Yet another thing Law constantly forgot. He was sick. He didn’t want Luffy to feel bad about things he couldn’t control, yet here Law was, forcing it on him. “I keep forgetting. I’m trying to get used to it too. You don’t have to try and be anyone else, I’ll learn so don’t give up on me.” 

“It’s just, you left me when I stopped being him. I’m afraid … if I don’t try to be the right person you’re going to leave again. I know it’s in the past it just hurts. The guy everyone remembers never gets sad or embarrassed or scared …” Luffy swallowed hard, not knowing why his brain was suddenly deciding to make him think about this. He didn’t want to be sad right now, he was with Law on an adventure. It was fun. Why does it hurt? “Hold me.” He demanded, shoving his body into Law, pulling a tattooed arm around himself. It felt better. 

Law smiled, holding Luffy tighter, tugging him closer. “I’m not leaving you again.” He pulled Luffy’s head up to look at him. “Do you understand me? I’m not leaving YOU, not some concept of you.” He chuckled. “You can be so annoying, but that doesn’t make me like you less.” He rubbed his face against Luffy’s. 

Luffy blushed a deep shade of red, still looking into Law’s eyes. His lips parted, likely to say something, but Law couldn’t stop himself from stealing a kiss. Luffy gasped into the kiss, startled, but it didn’t stop him from deepening it. 

Law pulled away, to look at Luffy, smirking, already knowing his plans. “Tell me what you really want me to do to you.”

“Fuck me.” Luffy said without thinking–like any question. The intensity of Law’s gaze made him squirm. He wasn’t sure whether or not he was nervous or horny—both?

Law pulled Luffy onto his lap, holding him close to his chest. “How do you want me to fuck you? Hm, Lu?” He licked the top of Luffy’s ear after asking. The fisherman shivered.

“I want you to surprise me.” Luffy said, breathlessly. 

The door slammed open, “We need your help.” Another person Luffy didn’t recognize. “You still remember how to fish right?”

Here we go again, Law thought bitterly. He left the ocean for a reason. He was getting too old for this.

“Well of course I remember how to fish.” Luffy’s voice was bright, cheerful, excited. “What do you think I’ve been doing all these years?” He paused, lowering his voice, taking on a more serious tone, “In case you didn’t know I was fishing.”

“Doflamingo has cut off another major city from its primary food source. We need to go out onto the ocean if we’re going to help them through this.” It was a reasonable request, Law knew that, but he couldn’t stop himself from feeling jealous of Luffy’s attention being taken away from him. Most people couldn’t handle these waters, not like Luffy, it was only natural to ask him of all people to help. 

The only positive thing to come out of the ocean waters rising faster than humans could keep up with was all fish populations were larger than they had ever been. Unfortunately, space to farm became difficult to find, only the highest points in the world still had land, most were poor conditions for growing things. 

Most capitalists like Doflamingo took advantage of this new global plight and made big names for themselves. Others, like Luffy, took it upon themselves to feed the planet. Back in the day when you asked Luffy why he did it, he would claim he just enjoyed fishing, but no one had more power than those with the ability to fish on the rough seas–to simply give away the capital that made you was unheard of before the straw hats.

Hurricanes were no longer a seasonal thing, waters were constantly rough. It took experts in nearly every field to circumnavigate Earth’s oceans. Luffy’s ability to bring experts together for the better was a power in itself. If he took the money all the nations he helped wanted to give him he’d be the richest man on the planet. 

Law knew it wasn’t anything Luffy cared about or wanted credit for–his primary goal was to be as free as possible. Those that thought Luffy stupid didn’t see the big picture and ended up eating their words. He does things differently because he isn’t tied down by any social infrastructure no matter how reified it is; Law could only wish to see that clearly. 

“Uhm, Law …” Luffy shoved Law’s shoulder to get his attention. “Did you want to come, we’re headed out now.” He paused, biting his lip, unsure if he should say the next part. “You might not want to, it’s a category seven out there. I can’t let good people go hungry. I’m going.”

“I’ll go.”


End file.
